Metro

Sunday May 13, 2007

Dishing it out in spades

By BRIGITTE ROZARIO

Enterprising duo: Patrick Teoh and his daughter, Melanie, at the Damansara Village Steamboat Restaurant. – Photos by SIA HONG KIAU / The Star
IT is a guaranteed result that if you eat here at least four times a week, you might not become as sharp as me but you might become as acerbic, and you might start calling a spade a spade and say, ‘Oi, soup not good lah today. What the hell, man?’’’ says Patrick Teoh.

According to him, eating steamboat is most definitely linked to wit and acerbity.

Teoh should know. The actor, voice talent, blogger and former radio DJ has been called acerbic and mildly antagonistic in the past.

What special steamboat is he talking about? The one at the Damansara Village Steamboat Restaurant, of course.

Teoh clarifies that it’s not really his restaurant. “This is a project that my daughter Melanie, my son-in-law Jason and a couple of their friends, who are all from the same age group who don’t want to work for other people, decided they wanted to do.

“All of them like to eat very much, like all Malaysians, so they figured ‘Okay, since we like to eat so often and so much, let’s look at starting a food place.’

“And as usual, as children will tend to do, Melanie came and said, ‘Daddy, can you give us some advice?’, and this and that and the other, and at the end of it, it was, ‘Daddy, would you like to put some money where your mouth is?’

“So, as a sort of investment and to help the kids out, I got involved,” says Teoh.

The truth of the matter is this wasn’t a brilliant idea by Teoh. It was a brilliant idea by his daughter, son-in-law and their friends, and it became a brilliant idea by Teoh when it struck him to say: “Hey, that’s a good idea. I want in.”

“I said, ‘As you can see it’s slightly overcast. I don’t want to put you outside and halfway through your dinner, it rains and it’ll be uncomfortable for you.’

“He said, ‘Don’t worry. It won’t rain one lah. Give us a table outside.’

Al fresco dining: Customers enjoying the cool night air. – Photo courtesy of Damansara Village Steamboat Restaurant
“At first I refused but they were quite persistent. Finally, after the fifth or sixth attempt I said, ‘Look, I’ll let you sit outside and I’ll even get the boys to serve you but I want to let you know that it is against my recommendation. So, should it rain, you mustn’t blame me.’

“He said, ‘Aiyah, come on lah Patrick. What you talking? Don’t worry ah. It won’t rain. I won’t blame you one.’

“So they sat down and ate and about halfway through their dinner it started to drizzle and this man, who about 40 minutes ago was so friendly, turned into a monster. He asked somebody to get me over to his table and he really laid it into me, four-letter words and all. He played the Jekyll-and-Hyde thing. He called me all sorts of names, saying ‘How can you do business like this? This is cheating people.’

“So what can you do with a customer like that except just shrug your shoulders and say okay. If that’s what they want, okay, no skin off my nose. I stood there and listened to him. Nothing you can do. Anyway, they sat there and finished their dinner and paid for their bill. So I think maybe he thought ‘This is how I can get back at Patrick Teoh, the celebrity.’”

He explains that Damansara Village sees its fair share of celebrities, from royalty to politicians, pop stars from Hong Kong and radio and TV crew members.

What is the big deal about this restaurant besides having Patrick Teoh as an investor?

Splendid spread: The steamboat offerings at Damansara Village Steamboat Restaurant.
“The difference between us and other steamboat places is that other steamboat places serve you a variety of mainly processed foods which is fish ball, fish cake, soya sheets and stuff like that, all processed. Then they’ll give you a couple of frozen prawns and some vegetables.

“But we have here live seafood – live fish, live crabs, live prawns, live clams, a variety of live seafood. We believe that the best way of eating fresh ‘still alive when you cook it’ seafood is not to add any sauces to it. The best way to eat it is to slaughter the fish, put it in the soup, take it out when the meat is just cooked. Then you can taste the freshness and flavours of the fish and prawns.

“When we serve you the prawns, they’ll still be jumping around on the plate. It’s true. So it’s not unusual to hear on weekend nights people screaming. The fish – we have to gut it and clean it first but you can go have a look and decide which fish you want and fish it out of the aquarium yourself,” says Teoh, adding that the seafood arrives from Pulau Ketam daily.

There is a lot for children to do at the restaurant. They can go “longkang fishing” at the fountain. They can put the fish back after scooping them out or they can take the fish home. On Sundays, at 7pm, they can get balloon sculptures. There’s even a giant tortoise and an iguana named Iggy to visit and take photos with.

What does Patrick Teoh know about food, you ask?

“I know as much about food as any other true hot-blooded Malaysian. Every Malaysian should know about food, or at least they should know what they like and what they don’t like. That’s my claim to fame as far as food is concerned – I’m a Malaysian. I love to eat,” he says.

Related Story:
Patrick confidential

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