Tan (right) and Goh offer a winning menu at The Meet by NetVerk. — Photos: GLENN GUAN/The Star
Former beauty queen Ivlyn Tan has a restaurant where the top draw – a whole roasted chicken – requires a day’s advance order.
The Miss Malaysia Tourism Dreamgirl 2005 and her husband Simon Goh now run The Meet by Netverk in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.
Both say that what makes their roast chicken special is its juicy quality.
It is roasted upright in a combi oven at 180°C for 27 minutes and then fired at up to 220°C for the last eight to crispen the skin.
The whole roasted chicken.
A dish below the vertical roaster collects the juices for an ideal dip.
According to Tan, the restaurant sells up to 50 birds a day for this famous dish.
The secret to the roast’s quality lies in its preparation.
Marinated overnight with 20 herbs and spices, the chickens are kept chilled, never frozen.
Then, there is the tender quality of the flesh. Tear the drumstick away from the thigh and watch the juices flow.
The Kau Yook Meehoon.
We were most impressed that even the breast was as yielding as the thigh; it slid across the palate like satin.
Tan, 42, and Goh, 57, have big plans for their top dish.
One of these is to tap into the online delivery market for occasions like full moon celebrations.
Though their restaurant is only a year old, the couple who have three children aged 21, 15 and five, are no newbies to the food and beverage industry.
Goh, who has a diploma in Hotel and Management, was the former co-owner of Y2K, a popular bar in Ipoh Garden East, Perak.
Tan’s parents used to operate a youtiao stall at the Aulong wet market further up north in Taiping.
The couple also own a 929sq m event space in Oval Damansara, Taman Tun Dr Ismail in Kuala Lumpur.
Cockles with chilli andginger sauce.
From the couple’s affable nature, it is easy to see how they have garnered a steady following over the years.
Goh, who helms the business, is known for saying that his role as company chief executive officer stands for “Chief Everything Officer”, which implies that he is the type to take a hands-on approach.
As for Tan, who oversees the daily operations, she likes to introduce herself as the “Chief Happiness Officer”, indicating her role in ensuring service and food quality meet diners’ expectations.
Confessing to being a foodie, Tan takes credit for coming up with the menu at The Meet.
Lovers of deep-fried pork lard should not miss out on their Ultimate Pork Pasta, which is orecchiette with lots of bacon and a generous sprinkling of cubed lard.
What makes this creation a winner is the crunch that comes with every bite of the latter.
The dish is a prime example of deep-fried pork lard done right; crisp, light and savoury with a hint of sweetness.
Another star item is the Kau Yook Meehoon which is rice vermicelli with pork belly that has been braised in red fermented bean curd.
It was Tan’s idea to combine a much-loved traditional Hakka meat dish with noodles after returning from a foodie trip.
For cockle lovers, the restaurant offers AA-sized ones which come with a chilli and ginger sauce.
Tan has also included the well-loved Sambal Petai Prawns in the restaurant’s menu.
Fresh and succulent, these crustaceans were coated with a spicy chilli sauce.
The stink beans were not overcooked as they still had a crunch to them.
From the Western section, there are two pizzas flavours worth trying.
One is the Mala Pizza which has mala sauce with mozzarella.
The other is Mushroom Truffle which features the rich, earthy notes of the prized underground fungi.
For those who like red meat, there is the Australian lamb rack.
THE MEET by Netverk, F-1-1, City, Pusat Perdagangan Bandar Bukit Jalil, Persiaran Jalil 1, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. Business hours: noon to 12.45am. Tel: 011-1668 1267. Non-halal.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
