ronnycakes reviews: Min Huang, Jalan Metro Perdana Barat, Kepong

Whenever the both of us crave for dimsum, our goto is usually Kedai Kopi Mee Bon at Jalan Ipoh, where both of us have been eating at since we were tiny (not together of course), and which also gives us the best lo mai kai ever. The lo mai kai there is savoury and best of all, super juicy; none of that crappy dry generic lo mai kai you get at other places. But I digress.

On recommendation from vkeong, we headed over to Min Huang one afternoon; a little skeptical about the place because surprisingly on a Saturday afternoon, there were hardly any cars around and parking was aplenty.

Min Huang’s Steam Dumpling with Shrimp Roe (RM3.80 per basket) was springy, yummy and full of prawn meat, albeit being truly bite-sized and a bit small for our appetites.

The Pan-fried Yam Cake (RM3.80 per portion), crispy and savoury and full of dried shrimp. 

 
One of the recommended dishes at Min Huang was this Shanghai Special Fried Bean Sheet (RM6.80) which is very similar to kuey teow except that it’s more translucent, a little stickier and chewier. Fried with eggs, spring onions, carrots and egg, it was incredibly aromatic and delicious.

On another occasion we went for the Fried Yam Cake (RM4.80) instead of the pan-fried one and I have to say that I much preferred the pan-fried one to this one. The normal stir-fried one was lacking in crispiness and the yam cake was bland and soft.

The Special Steam Pork Dumpling was similar to the Siew Mai we had, but came wrapped all over. Delicious nevertheless!

Deep Fried Salad Prawn (RM5.20); a bit on the steep side but so yummy. I think it’s got something to do with the prawn marinade and the crispiness of the deep-fried skin. I always find myself ordering 2 plates of this whenever I come to Min Huang. :D

Wils loved this Steamed Black Pepper Dumpling (RM4.20) but I was less impressed because of the strange soft peppery sauce on top of each dumpling.

The star of the show for us! This Shanghai Steamed Herbal Dumpling (RM7.20) was full of herbal soup (a nice twist to a classic dim sum dish) and just super good. We tried the normal xiao long bao once but it did not satisfy us as well as this one with the herb soup.

Min Huang’s Oyster and Peanut Porridge (RM3.80) was run-of-the mill. I’ve definitely had better porridge elsewhere.

Min Huang has firmly planted itself on our list of dim sum haunts, and plus the fact that it’s relatively nearer (Kepong) and prices are not super steep, AND the food is yummy. You really have to come and try it for yourself!
Relatively few bloggers have blogged about this place yet so if it’s your first time hearing about it, don’t hesitate to go and have a taste of their dim sum because most of the offerings on their menu are seriously yummy. Stay away from the porridge though unless you must have porridge to go with your dim sum. Ramen and other fried rice dishes are also served but we haven’t tried those yet, so that’s another thing to add to the list!

Address:
Min Huang Restaurant
12, Jalan Metro Perdana Barat 3,
Taman Usahawan Kepong

Map *here*

ronnycakes reviews: New Shanghai 新上海, Pavilion KL

Tucked away in the farthest corner of Pavilion’s food basement floor is New Shanghai (新上海); a tiny restaurant that serves pork-free dim sum. I’m always incredibly skeptical of pork-free dim sum somehow it just never tastes as good, but because New Shanghai is constantly patronized by throngs and throngs of people we decided to check it out to see what all the fuss was about.

An olden day bicycle complete with rattan baskets – vintage posters on brick walls – takeaway boxes?

Buns steaming away – New Shanghai’s open kitchen – a very Shanghai-esque dining interior.

At New Shanghai, you help yourself to the food, i.e. you queue up at the end of the line and pick and choose what you want from the fried items, baked items, steamed buns and dessert. As for steamed dim sum, you order it at the counter and they’ll deliver it to your table freshly steamed.

Our first plate of greed, Deep Fried Prawn Roll, Deep Fried Crab Roll and Pan Fried Fish Cake. Best thing for me was the fish cake, tasted hand-made and authentic. Not like those machine-made-bleached-white fish cakes.

Nyom nyom, look at that glistening oil…

The Pan Fried Lotus Root Pancake was one of the more unique items; lotus root blended with chicken paste.

Shrimp Dumplings (or Har Gau) were one of the highlights of the trip, with huge, fresh and juicy prawns in each delicately wrapped dumpling.

The never-missed Siew Mai (Pork and Prawn Dumplings, in this case chicken) was pretty good, almost good enough to forget that it was made of chicken.

Shanghainese Dumplings were served with chili oil and spring onion. This was pretty average and tasted exactly like what it was made of: chicken.

 
I think this is Shrimp Wanton (the result of having too many backlogged reviews T.T) but I distinctly remember it as tasting quite similar to the Shanghainese Dumplings.

We finished off our meal with a refreshing Osmanthus Cake, a blend of jelly with Osmanthus flowers and wolfberries. Sadly the flowers were not aromatic enough and all we tasted was sweet jelly.

All in all, dim sum at New Shanghai has its hits and misses but our experience was generally a good one. Pork-free dim sum is done very well, sometimes one even starts to forget that everything is made with chicken…
If you’re planning to come by New Shanghai, do come a little earlier or a little after lunchtime as it can get quite packed and chaotic, not to mention service definitely drops a couple of notches during peak times.

Address:
Lot 1.02.00, Pavilion KL,
168, Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel:03-2142 2833

Map *here*

Clarissane reviews: Jade Pot Dim Sum @ Old Klang Road

Being an avid fan of dim sum, I am always on the lookout for good dim joints around town, be it restaurant or coffee shop style. Places like Jin Xuan in Damansara Jaya and Room Eighteen which we have reviewed and a few other notable ones like Summer Palace and Fu Lai are known for their notable servings of dim sum. Average dim sum is easy to find but good ones are hard to come by.

Groupon recently had a Jade Pot Dim Sum promo for only RM10. So cheap I couldn’t resist…I thought it would be a great opportunity to check out another dim sum outlet for a great bargain!

I always judge whether a place serves good dim sum by the taste of its Siew Mai. It MUST be plump, juicy and have the right combination of pork to skin. Jade Pot fares pretty well on this scale! :)

Next up was the Beancurd Skin! I really, really enjoyed this dish I didn’t wanna share it! Juicy and tasty with the perfect sauce combination, this is something I highly recommend!!

Their Steamed Fish Balls wasn’t all that great. It tasted processed and a lil too fishy for my liking.

Their Fish Porridge was mediocre, a little too salty and could fare better with more fish slices in it.

Jade Pot serves pretty tasty Char Siew Chee Cheong Fun (Steamed Flour Roll with Pork). Just the right ratio of pork to flour roll. At least they do not serve thick and tasteless flour rolls with pathetic filling like some dim sum joints do. I reckon their Prawn Chee Cheong Fun would taste even better!

Overall, their dim sum fare was pretty good, apart from the overly fishy fish balls. Would definitely come back for their Beancurd Skin! If I’m not mistaken, only this outlet serves dim sum dishes with the Hartamas branch only serving steamboat.

Jade Pot does tasty and delicious steamboat using freshly made ingredients. These are unlike some steamboat joints that serves processed fishballs like those you can find at the supermarket which tastes cheap. Our Jade Pot steamboat review here.

Prices are akin to places like Room Eighteen and Summer Palace (may be slightly on the steep side). Dim sum fare ain’t cheap anyway.. it is akin to our very own Chinese ‘fine-dining’ experience ;)

Address:
No 413, Batu 5,
Jalan Kelang Lama,
58000 Kuala Lumpur
(adjacent to Pearl Point Hotel)
Tel: 03-7987 9918

Map *here*

ronnycakes reviews: Room Eighteen @ Hartamas Shopping Centre

Room Eighteen is a casual dining branch of Tai Thong Group of Restaurants, which serves Hong-Kong style fare, including things like dimsum or wantan mee.
Tai Thong does dim sum pretty well, especially the branch opposite Tropicana City Mall – Summer Palace, and the ones at Room Eighteen are great as well! One thing I love about the dimsum being served at Room Eighteen is that all baskets are freshly steamed or fried as per order, so that everything is piping hot and very fresh when served.

I absolutely love the Siew Mai (RM7.80 per basket) at Room Eighteen. Its large and juicy with an abundance of prawns and pork. The addition of prawn roe on the top looks and tastes good. :)

Mum’s favourite Chicken Feet (RM4.80) in beanpaste sauce.

Room Eighteen is actually having a promotion right now; for every RM50 and above in a dine-in receipt, you get a brochure of mini coupons for your next trip! Like the one below, prices are not to say incredibly cheap but you do save a lot compared to ordering without the coupon.
There are of course terms and conditions attached; you can only use one coupon per person, per receipt. So if you’re looking to have some dessert or tea after the meal, pay the bill first, go for a walk, and then come back for more. :P

The No. 1 Baked Bun and Milk Tea set (RM4.80) is normally priced at RM8.30.
The bun was soft and fluffy with some Char Siew Pau filling.

The Stir Fried Hor Fun with Sliced Beef came with a glass of Lemon Tea with Aloe Vera and was priced at RM9.80. Normal price is RM18.30 for the combination. Everyone loved this and it was the highlight of the trip! Amazingly, the wok hei was really good and the whole plate of noodles was incredibly fragrant with just the right amount of wetness. Even a non-beef lover like me couldn’t help taking more than one bite. :D

The Century Egg Congee came with Steamed Flour Roll with Soy Sauce and was priced at RM8.80. Total damage to your wallet on normal days would be RM16! I’ve loved Tai Thong porridge since when I was a kid eating at Chopstix restaurant, and I have nothing but praise for this.

The Steamed Flour Roll with Soy Sauce that came with the porridge. This was basically vegetarian Chee Cheong Fun and tasted downright horrible. The filling was of some Lo Hon Zai variety and had a weird plastic-ky aftertaste.

The Fresh Prawn Wanton Noodle came with a glass of Barley with Lemon and was priced at RM8.80 with a normal price of RM15.30. The wanton was full of the good stuff, meaty pork and big prawn, with tasty seasoning. The soup on the other hand was slightly bland for me, I suppose to offset the savoury-ness of the wantons.

For dessert, we had the Black Sesame Cream at RM2 usually at RM5.80. Utter disappointment. Stay away from this at all costs because we suspect this is made from instant dessert powder. It was bland and watery, none of the thickness that you would associate with a good bowl of sesame cream.

All in all, there were a few hits and misses but generally the dim-sum is good as well as the porridge. As for the soup wanton noodles, I suggest trying the dry one instead that comes with deep fried wantons which is absolutely heavenly!
The stir-fried beef noodle comes highly recommended by me as well! :D

Address:
Room Eighteen
Lot G18 & 19 Ground Floor,
Hartamas Shopping Centre @ Plaza Damas
Jalan Sri Hartamas 1

Map *here*

Clarissane and ronnycakes reviews: Jin Xuan Dim Sum, Damansara Jaya

ronnycakes: When you’re in need for some comfort food and with a big group of friends, nothing beats good ol’ fashioned dimsum. Especially when you’re in a big group you can be extra gluttonous and just order everything that looks interesting. :D
Now that’s what we call a fun and satisfying meal.

While it can’t be said that there aren’t any budget dimsum that is value for money and tastes good, we can vouch for Jin Xuan’s dimsum which is value for money and tastes good. Jin Xuan is also fully air-conditioned and that’s definitely a plus point in the hot weather nowadays!
This is testament to the fact that the place is packed to the brim on weekends (family outings). For a table, you’ll have to take a number and wait outside under the makeshift tent for the waitress at the counter to call out your name.

We chose to go on a weekday where it was not as packed, but parking was still pretty scarce.

Clarissane: With a wide variety of food, we were definitely spoilt for choice! (so always go with a big group so you can be greedy but no one will call you one :D)

ronnycakes: The staple of all dimsum: Siew Mai.This was springy with an abundance of pork and prawns. Definitely flavourful. Thumbs up!

Clarissane: The prawns in the Siew Mai were huge and juicy, oh so yummy!

ronnycakes: I found the Har Gau lacking in taste… the skin was too dry and a bit thick for my liking.

ronnycakes: Teocheow-style Siew Mai, tasted much the same as the normal type of siew mai, juicy and springy.

ronnycakes: The same skin used for the Har Gau was used for this Scallop Dumpling, so that put me off a little. On the other hand though, the scallop was fresh albeit being a little on the small side. :P

ronnycakes: The Spare Rib Porridge came highly recommended by the bf, and with good reason. The porridge was smooth and the taste was sweet with what I’m guessing is pork broth for the base. Came with nice chunks of meat as well. :D

ronnycakes: Char Siew Pau was nice and fluffy with sweet char siew filling.

Clarissane: I am a big fan of Char Siew Paus..and I really like the ones here. Its a good thing that they’re quite generous with the amount of filling in the pau. Break open it and everything spills out.. AH! YUMMY!

ronnycakes: Lo Mai Kai (Chicken with Glutinous Rice) was alright. When you’ve tasted the famous Lo Mai Kai from Jln Ipoh, no other Lo Mai Kai can satisfy you. :P
This one was too dry for me and lacking in taste.

ronnycakes: My favourite at every dimsum place! Prawn Fritters, juicy and springy prawns FTW!

ronnycakes: Sharks’ Fin Dumpling. Disappointingly, I couldn’t really taste the sharks’ fin at all, though it made a pretty nice pork dumpling on its own.

ronnycakes: I think this was Beancurd Skin with Fish.

Clarissane: I never fail to order their Fried Brinjals. One of my staple dish when I come here :)

Clarissane: The Wu Kok (Yam Radish with Pork Filling) was not up to standard though. It came cold so the layer of skin was not as crispy and I found that the filling was too little :p

Clarissane: The Prawn Chee Cheong Fun was pretty tasty, accompanied with the spicy chilli that comes with it.
ronnycakes: I loved the chee cheong fun!

Clarissane: This was something new that we tried, I can’t recall what was it since I didn’t get to taste it but I’m sure it was good since it was gone by the time I wanted to eat it :p

Clarissane: Their Steamed Fish Balls were nice and springy in texture.

And of course, after all the savoury stuff.. we ended the meal with some things sweet ;)

Clarissane: My other staple dish I always have here is their Egg Tarts. Good egg tarts lie in its crust. The ones here lives up to par with the perfect crust that crumbles and melts in your mouth when eaten. Accompanied with the just right sweet egg filling.. utter heavenly! The ones here can fight the famous Tong Kee egg tarts.

Clarissane: Looking at it just makes my mouth water.

ronnycakes: Custard Bun, which I thought was alright but everyone else didn’t like because the filling was too sandy.

 

ronnycakes: Sweet lotus paste inside deep-fried sesame balls. :)

 

An incredibly satisfying meal which ended up with us clutching our stomachs due to an abundance of good food.

All in all, the bill for 8 of us came up to RM136 (RM17 per pax) including tea, government tax and service charge. Not very cheap but not overly expensive either considering the amount of food we had. A good place for a quick, delicious dimsum fix when you’re craving for one!

Located along the stretch of road starting from the DJ school, it is pretty hard to miss with the massive sign. If you haven’t already tried this place or haven’t come by for a while, do consider visiting it!

Address
59, 61 & 63 Jalan SS22 / 19
Damansara Jaya, Petaling Jaya Selangor
47300

Map *here*