Julia Child said that people who love to eat are the best. At TLB, we not only have a great team but also one that loves food as well. Whether we are the best or not can be left for discussion on another day, but we do not shy away from a good meal. A lot of our activities are based around food. Monthly content planning? Let’s do it over breakfast. Have to finalise a script? Let’s do it over coffee. Client meeting? Let’s have a working lunch. Food makes us happy. Period.
When a former colleague was in town, we decided to catch up over dinner. Since both she and I love Southeast Asian cuisine, we decided to head to Chow Mee in Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, which happens to be a favourite of both of us. I hadn’t been there since the reopening, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit.
Chow Mee, which opened in 2019, has served wonderful Southeast Asian street food delicacies from Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The expansive restaurant has seating both outdoors and indoors. As the weather had started to get better, we decided to sit outdoors. If you sit inside, you are treated to the theatrics of street food cooking in the open kitchen of Chow Mee as chefs whip up fragrant and decadent dishes.
Chow Mee has a generous and well-thought-out menu featuring some of the most popular dishes from Southeast Asian nations. Our appetiser choices (to share) included Chicken Dim Sums, Som Tam (papaya salad), and Lumpia Sayur (Indonesian spring rolls). The Dim Sums were excellent – perfect thickness of the dough, flavoured and delicious filling and tasty. The Papaya Salad is one of the star dishes at Chow Mee. The Chefs will make it as hot as you like it. We wanted ours hot and it did serve! The crunchy Lumpia Sayur had a wonderful vegetable filling and was served with chilli sauce.
For the mains, we chose Beef Pho, Nasi Lemak & Rendang Wagyu and Okra Sambal Belachan. The Beef Pho, one of the staples of Vietnamese cuisine made with meat, chicken, or vegetables, is best had piping hot. The Beef Pho at Chow Mee is a beautiful, symphony of flavours. The fragrant and savoury broth made with noodles, herbs, aromatics, and beef is a fantastic dish. The Nasi Lemak and Rendang Wagyu is yet another star dish on the menu at Chow Mee. The Wagyu, which was the highlight for me, was delicately cooked and mildly flavoured. If go to Chow Mee and choose just one dish, then let it be Nasi Lemak and Rendang Wagyu. You will not be disappointed. I was not quite keen on Okra but this is where the chefs shine. The okra stir-fried in piquant Sambal is an absolute delight that leaves a trail of umami flavour in your mouth.
We were too full to order the dessert even though they have an impressive range. Something for next time!
Chow Mee has remarkable dishes, a wonderful vibe, and an excellent team which includes the chefs and the wait staff. Chow Mee ticks all the right boxes when it comes to food, ambiance, and experience!