Somewhere during January, we were in Kuala Lumpur to follow-up on some un-finish business and we chance upon this unique tea house Off Jalan Genting Klang. This eatery is located on the second floor of a shop lot unit, but that did not stop the steady stream of customers patronising their place. It has Taiwanese charm with soft playing music, similar to that of our clients in Penang.
Hakka Yam Abacus 客 家 手 工 算 盘 子 RM 6.90(S) RM 12(M), this is actually the reason we came to this place. The abacus yam balls are supplied by our new found friend Sze Yin which I have blog about on her effort to create a business out supplying this delicacy. A simple and inexpensive abacus yam balls in the hands of a passionate and perfectionist artist has made this delicacy shine with the assistance of some common ingredients that we see daily like dried shrimps, black fungus, chili, spring onions and fried shallots. Honestly, we have tried to duplicate the flavours during Gill’s Family Chinese New Year Reunion dinner, but failed to achieve perfection. I guess I would need to make my down to KL again to savor this delicacy again. The texture of the abacus yam balls were firm and springy and taste was light and savory without overwhelming the the distinctive sweet yam taste.
Shifting through the stir fried abacus yam balls, we came up with a suggestion to try deep frying with batter. They did, and some more details still have to be worked out before it can be reach perfection in terms of texture and taste. It needed some more saltiness and spice to bring out the original flavours of the yam.
After we were introduced, to the husband and wife team entrepreneurs of this homey eating outlet, as food bloggers from Penang, we were introduced to more of their specialties that they have in their menu. This was all thanks to Sze Yin! Another trip is needed to sample all that can be dished out by this hospitable couple.
We were ill prepared for what that were served consecutively! But it was an opportunity that I would not missed out if given a second chance. We could taste the heart and soul place in preparing each and every dish served. We are admire and respect people who take pride in their profession and strive to create perfection in what they cook.
Cheese Baked Chicken Spaghetti 芝士鸡肉意粉 RM 8.90, this is fairly an Asian style pasta which consist of just chicken slices, spaghetti, home made tomato base pasta sauce and cheese. The pasta was al dente and the tomato sauce tasted very localised or Asian, which would be acceptable by many especially for those who do not like the taste of Western herbs like Bay Leaves, Oregano, and so on. The torched cheese gave it an extra richness in flavour.
Tom Yam Fried Rice 东 炎 炒 饭 Rm 6.50, consist of fragrantly fried rice pearls coated in the flavour of light Tom Yam and accompanied with egg, chicken slices, fresh juicy prawns and garnish with sprinkles of spring onion. the fried rice was not a bit too oily or over spiced, just nice for light eaters.
Spicy Noodle With Chicken Chop 麻辣鸡扒面 RM 7.50, as the name has it, this noodle dish had quite an amount of heat, but that did not deter us from savouring every single stand of noodles. The heat and sweetness was well balanced and had a hint nutty flavour. Another surprise was the tender and succulent breast of chicken which was deep fried till golden brown. I am a breast person, and it is one of the observation points when I judge the skill of the chef or cook. Not many can keep breast meat juicy tender through deep frying.
Sweet Chicken Wings 瑞 士 鸡 翼 RM 4.50, it tasted like Taiwanese style stewing. If I am not wrong it had rock sugar, garlic, spring onion and shallots. The wings were tender enough to fall of the bones but still able to retain its shape and consistency. This would be great for kids and adults a like, and best enjoyed with bowl of steaming white rice.
Prawn Toast 芝 麻 虾 多 士 RM 5.50, is one of the finger food that we tried but in a mix platter that contains a variety of snacks that they have on their menu. The bread topped with a succulent prawn and coated with fragrant sesame seeds and deep fried to golden brown. I would personally like to have a taste of this toast without the mayo to experience the original flavours, but mayo is more of a mass market taste that many would not mind having to give it a richer taste and some moisture.
Otak Cheese Sandwich 乌 达 芝 士 三 文 治 RM4.50, was not my cup of tea. There were mixture of east and west in this sandwich which had the locally produced otak-otak and complimented by either cheese. I guess my acquired taste for original flavours or well matched and compose fusion tastes had influenced my judgement on this sandwich. May be there are people who may well like this version of otak sandwich.
Italy Omellete 意 大 利 蛋 卷 RM7.90, was one of my favourites there. In the omellete, it had tomato chunks, shredded onion, mushroom chunks and cheese. A simple dish yet it left quite and impression in my taste buds, the white sauce did not overwhelm the eggy flavour and did not over enrich the taste of this egg dish. The cream sauce would be a great pairing with seafood base pasta due to its balanced flavours and sweet ending.
Apart from using their homemade white sauce on their omellete, we also suggested that they try using it and thicken with cheese to produce the cheese baked French fries which we have been searching all this while. They took our suggestions seriously and tried a hand in satisfying out desire, but some fine tuning would be needed before it could place in their menu. Their version was 60% near to what we were searching for, it is now the matter of the process of which goes in first to create the perfect cheese baked fries.
The bottom photos depicts the conversation and mingling that we had with Susan, while her husband toils in the kitchen.
After a wholesome meal at Cannes Tea House, we had the a groupy photo taken to remind us the time that we had in their tea house and the passion we found in their food.
To sum up our experience at Cannes Tea House:
Taste & Texture: 3.9/5 (passion was put into their dishes)
Money Value : 3.5/5 (KL pricing)
Service: 3.0/5
Cleanliness: 3.2/5 (the landlord has to do its part)
Atmosphere: 3.5/5 (homey with soft music)
Address: No. 16-1, Jalan 2/50C, Off Jalan Genting Klang, 53300 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 40226578
Business Hours: 11:00am to 11:00pm.
GPS Coordinate: N03◦11’43.4″ E101◦42’40.0″
Popularity: 8% [?]
