Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Tai Zi Heen. Prince Hotel, KL. Another Recessive Phase Dining Alternative.

(no pork served)

All you can eat for RM45++. You gotta be kidding right? Swanky Chinese Restaurant in a Five Star Hotel. Table service, mind you. Not queueing up like you are in some Salvation Army Soup Kitchen. I could hardly believe it when I called up Tai Zi Heen to make a reservation for breakfast and was told that they were having this promotion. Saturdays and Sundays only, 11.30am to 2pm.


The interior is lovely, with lots of wood. Posh Spice would have felt right at home here. Unfortunately when I was there, there was only one other table occupied. The Marketing Team may not have promoted it well enough.


For Starters I had Cold Marinated Mexican Raw Clams with Szechuan Paste. This came with celery, sliced red chilli, white and black sesame seeds and some sliced scallions. The Szechuan Paste was salty and had a touch of spiciness. I found the clams a bit bland tasting. I had expected it to taste something like Pacific Clams or Sea Asparagus. It only shared the consistency, but tasted much blander.


The Steamed Crystal Dumplings (Har Kow) was good. The consistency of the skin was correct. Not too thick or doughy and not sticky, nor too thin and flimsy. They lifted easily from the paper and were filled with big, succulent prawns. This is probably my "Control" dish for any restaurants serving Dim Sum. Any mistakes here and it usually means a bad meal, but the ones I had at Tai Zi Heen were good.


Pan Fried Pancake with Prawns and Chives came in a thin crispy batter that was very very light with almost no trace of greasiness. Lovely skin, but unfortunately the filling was very salty and obscured the taste of prawns.


Deep Fried Crispy Chicken Dumpling with Dried Shrimps was also fried to perfection. This restaurant's frying technique is superb. Again light and crunchy skin, with minimal trace of oiliness, it was not heavy at all. The skin is probably made from glutinous rice flour and the filling was good here. Minced chicken bathed in savoury sauce with bits of deep fried dried shrimps inside. Very enjoyable and satisfying.


The Braised Shark's Fin Soup was not too watered down despite it being offered at an "All You Can Eat Menu". I shall not discuss about the political correctness and controversies of indulging in this delicacy here. The version at Tai Zi Heen came in a rich stock with the right consistency.

The Mini Egg Tarts will probably disappoint foodies who like their egg tarts rich and oily. This version is probably for the more health conscious. Very light skin and not bogged with oil, the filling was also not very sweet, but richly flavoured with egg and custard. I liked this version. And finally, the Aloe Vera Jelly with Lime Sorbet was also a welcome relief as the tangy sourish sorbet took away the heaviness in the tummy after being loaded with Dim Sums.

The service here was very good and the dining ambiance was also good. The menu is quite extensive for this promotion. They had rice fried noodles, simple dishes and dim sum plus desserts. Excellent value for money at RM 45.

Tai Zi Heen
Prince Hotel and Residence
No: 4, Jalan Conlay
50450 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +6.03.21.70.88.88


12 comments:

thule a.k.a leo said...

do they have extensive selection of dim sums??? or just limited only?

Ciki said...

looks fantastic.. don't u just love the way certain foods taste like they have hardly a trace of oil, but you know they actually have ? (oil that is..) just kidding - in this case the prawn thingy looks delicious;)

Paranoid Android said...

@ Thule: Many Varieties. Desserts alone about 8 types. Then they classify steamed, fried,chee cheon fun, side dishes like fried lo bak gou...

@C&C: War... Somebody big shopping trip ar?

Paranoid Android said...

@ Thule: But park at Pavilion and walk over there using the pedestrian bridge facing KLCC. The parking in the Hotel is horrible. Anyway, after saving so much on food, you can always hop back to Pavilion and get your wife the Prada Bag she has been yearning for. :D

minchow said...

I always get the jitters when a promising place's been clearly under-marketed... or is the recession finally showing its stripes?? Better make my way there before it all stars to slide south!! :-S

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

45? sounds like a deal bcos i spend way more on ala-carte dim sum the last time i was here

thule a.k.a leo said...

my wife is yearning for LV... not Prada :) parking in Prince is still Ok. Lazy to walk that far!
In this case, it's time to reactivate my Prince Privilege card one more time

Paranoid Android said...

@550mls : Ominous dark clouds in the horizon? Hope not, but what da heck. Any reason is as good to go out and grab some cheap, good chow!

@ Joe: Yes. And Chynna at Hilton is now having the same kind of offer for 55!

@ Thule : Oh... the LV! Tell her not to get he Monogram. The Suhali Leather Lockit MM in bronze. My Che Che just bought one and it looks great.

Rebecca Saw said...

the marketing team did wrong by inviting "wrong" grp of fd bloggers for review ;p
Hhaha.. its ok. I'm jz being bitchy. its a long story. (makes for a gossip session! ;p)

Yes, seen the dim sum blogged abt by them and it looks darn good alrite..prefer to go in a grp tho..

Paranoid Android said...

@Nomad : Ahhh! Do I sense some poliial intrigue that I am unaware of? Hmmm. Gossip session/tête-à-tête over dim sum and bottomless pot of tea sounds lovely!

Agree that a big group would be more fun, especially if everybody is fighting for the last piece!

TummyFull said...

good recommendations. RM45 for all you can eat is simply amazing price for 5 stars hotel.

Paranoid Android said...

@Boon Chuan : Yes. I thought it was a prety good deal too!

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