Dim Sum at Tai Zi Heen, Prince Hotel Kuala Lumpur

We celebrated dad’s birthday recently at Prince Hotel & Residences’ Tai Zi Heen Chinese Restaurant. Tai Zi Heen is currently running a promotion for halal All-You-Can-Eat dim sum for lunch at RM45.00++ per person on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

We were among the first ones to arrive at 11:30am and were promptly greeted by the wait staff and led to our table. At the table were the dim sum menu and card to indicate our selections. Service was fast, probably because there were not many diners then.

The dim sum menu is divided into several sections, i.e., Chef specialty, Fried, Steamed, Rice & Noodles, Vegetables and Desserts. We tried a variety of the dim sum items listed in the menu such as siew mai, har kau (prawn dumpling), crispy prawn with mayonnaise, cod fingers with mango and oats, rice roll with prawns, shitake mushroom dumpling, Thai fish paste dumpling, stir-fried carrot cake, spring roll with duck, bean curd skin with abalone sauce, prawn pancake, wu kok (yam dumpling), prawn dumpling with jackfruit and steamed salted egg custard bun. There are three stir-fried vegetable dishes on the menu. The first vegetable dish we ordered was Hong Kong vegetables with magnolia petals and kei chi. I didn't quite like this dish.

Instead I preferred the stir-fried long beans with pickled vegetables that came topped with chicken floss.

The dim sum were delicious and not too oily unlike the non-halal version served at other restaurants. Of all the dim sum items, our favourites were the stir-fried carrot cake, cod fingers with mango and oats, wu kok and prawn dumplings with jackfruit. We had many servings of those! The cod fingers is a winner simply because the smooth cod goes really well with the sweet mango slices.My dad really liked the stir-fried carrot cake which was very flavourful.The prawn dumplings with jackfruit is a big surprise. The thought of eating jackfruit combined with prawns is not exactly appealing to me, but surprisingly it was actually quite nice.

To end our lunch, we ordered the Aloe Vera jelly with lime sorbet, Sea coconut & longan with ginseng, glutinous rice balls and Chinese herbal jelly (kwai ling gao). The aloe vera jelly was a nice change from the usual desserts served for dim sum. The lime sorbet definitely cleanses the palate very well! The kwai ling gao was served with sea coconut slices, sago and white fungus. It’s a tad bitter but I’ve no complains because I’ve always liked my kwai ling gao bitter. The sea coconut and longan is a bit of a disappointment. I counted more longans than sea coconut. The sweet soup has a tinge of ginseng which took a bit of getting used to.

The other desserts in the menu are mango pudding and sago honey dew.Tai Zi Heen is located on the 1st floor of Prince Hotel and Residences Kuala Lumpur at No. 4 Jalan Conlay, 50450 Kuala Lumpur. Tel : 03-2170 8888

Lunching at Canton-I, Midvalley Gardens

It has been a 2 long years since we've had authentic Hong Kong wanton noodles. Although the wanton noodles in Malaysia are not at all bad, I still hanker for good wanton noodles every now and then. On a recent visit to Midvalley Gardens, we chanced upon the newly-opened Canton-I (they have another outlet at 1-Utama Old Wing) and decided that it's about time we satisfy our craving for good ol' Hong Kong-styled wanton noodles.

There was a long queue at the counter when we arrived and we promptly got ourselves a number before taking a seat outside the restaurant. It wasn't long before our number was called and we got ourselves settled at a nice table.

Who could have missed the roasted meats and pastry on the way in?

For starters, we ordered the absurbly cute piggy buns with red bean filling. Our daughter was very amused to be eating piggy-shaped buns. I would have thought they were way too cute to be eaten! The red bean filling was smooth and not overly sweet, just the way I liked it.

The second order was for Custard Egg buns that came in a purplish-swirl. Dizzying to look at, but oh-so-yummy! Just look at the egg custard oozing out of the bun!

With our tummies partially satiated by the little sweet treats, our orders for wanton noodles finally arrived. We had the wanton noodles in soup with honey-barbecued meat (char siu) that came in a separate plate. The wanton noodles were thin and springy, just how it tasted like in Hong Kong. The char siu was sinfully sweet and succulent!
We also ordered wanton noodles with Japanese-styled spareribs and roasted pork belly. The Japanese-styled spareribs were surprising melt-in-the-mouth. I've never thought that is quite possible for spareribs. The meat separated easily from the soft bone and the meat was quite flavourful. I loved the slightly fatty roasted pork belly which contrasted nicely with the crackling rind. I've always liked my roasted pork belly slightly salty and this one fits the bill perfectly.

Next to arrive was the Roasted Goose wanton noodles. Goose is not widely available in Malaysia and can be quite expensive but I'd gladly pay the RM18 a pop at Canton-I, if only to satisfy my cravings. The goose was roasted to perfection with a gleamingly crispy skin. It's so good I forgot to take pictures!

I would love to have my wanton noodles in Hong Kong again, but until then, Canton-I is certainly top of my list for Hong Kong-styled wanton noodles. At least it's cheaper considering I don't have to pay for an airticket to have wanton noodles.