Shek Si (石獅美食)

Shek Si (石獅美食) is known for their glutinous rice wine soup base (秘制糯米酒湯底), fresh whelk in spicey wine sauce (辣酒煮花螺), and boiled cockles (白灼螄蚶).

Shek Si is a very modest restaurant located in the older residential area in town.  I don't normally go to this part of town but I am told this is where all the "crouching tigers, hidden dragons" are.  I should explore this area more and broaden my horizons.

(The above pictures are from OpenRice.  No copyright infringement intended.)

We saw this poster and decided to try their signature dishes (招牌菜).  I still remembered vividly how the boss lady echoed our choice and said "if you come to our place, you should always try our signature dishes!"  AMEN!

I prefer a restaurant that has a small menu but excels in their offerings than a restaurant with a large menu but everything is only average.  For instance, Cheesecake Factory.  One of the thing I don't like about Cheesecake Factory is their huge menu.  Just stick to cheesecakes and maybe a few entrees, your customers will thank you!  Less is more.

The meatballs behind the pot was made in-house.
It was tasty but nothing spectacular about them.

The glutinous rice wine soup base definitely deserves the "signature" title.  The rice wine is fragrant but not overpowering.  I have not had anything like this before.  However, the pork bone marrow was a hassle to eat and took forever to cook.  The bones also took up all the space in the clay pot so it was difficult to cook anything else.  When the bones were finally ready (a few hours later), the marrow is very sweet and the meat is well seasoned.  Nevertheless, I will probably opt for the glutinous rice wine chicken pot next time.

Some of the whelks are too big. 
The best size for this kind of whelk is right around 1 inch

I noticed the Guangdong people are masters when it comes to cooking and eating shellfish.  Seafood used to be abundant, delicious, and affordable before the sea was polluted. My parents constantly remind me about the risk of food poisoning and Hepatitis A for worse.  I love seafood so it will be impossible for me to give them up completely but I do try to eat them less often.

The boss lady told us mantis shrimp (瀨尿蝦) is sold out for the night so we got bombay duck (九肚魚) instead.  You must be wondering - a fish with a name bombay "duck"?!  Yup, I spent quite a while Googling it too.  (The scientific name for this fish is harpodon nehereus or harpoon nehereus.)  This is one of the ugliest fish existed but it's really tasty when it's dredged, deep fried, and coated in salt and Sichuan pepper.  Serves with Worcester sauce.

We saw this deep fried taro chips on our neighbors' table and we have to have it.  LOVED IT!!!

 FTC Disclaimer:  I am not affiliated with this restaurant and I paid for my meal.