Restaurant review: CWZJ Cuisine - Home of Tea Kings

Restaurant: CWZJ Cuisine - Home of Tea Kings

Cuisine: Chinese

Address: 9B, Batu 5 1/2 Jln Kuchai Lama

Verdict: Good simple Chinese food, can be pretty pricey though. We had Hairy crab and Hoi Tai Kai yesterday. Yum..

I know I know its quite a name for a restaurant. But it basically is what it say it is.. Home of Tea Kings. I personally just call it the Tea House. This restaurant specialises in specialty Chinese tea and they're fussy about how they prepare and serve the tea (the proper way).

The restaurant is actually just a few doors away from our shoplot (see my entry on Chili crab feast - Tian Tian Hot Wok Food). Our shop is a corner lot while the Tea House is one of the middle ones. My dad one day decided to "check out the competition" and decided that the food was pretty decent. As usual, when he decides its something worth taking me to try, we will all go and have a feast.

Yesterday evening, I got home ard 6.30pm (its the holiday mood and I dont feel like spending too much time in the office!). During the drive home, I saw some ppl jogging and thought to myself, I really need to exercise! I got home, dragged my brother and my god brother Ian who's staying over, and all 3 of us went jogging! Ian and I arent exactly the fittest of people (which is also why we're not the thinnest!! Haha) so we didnt really jog but more of walk..

We got home ard 7.30pm, the maid didnt cook dinner so Dad decided to take us out to eat. Our first choice was "The Shack", aptly named so because the restaurant is literally a shack. It's near the FGA church along Kuchai as well and has good noodles, char kuey teow with raw egg, loh mee etc.. It used to be very much nicer about 7-10 years ago but I still go there once in a while to satisfy my cravings for good noodles.

Anyway, it was closed yesterday so we had to look for alternatives. I thought of the Tea House cos it was nearby and we hadnt been there in a while.

My sister actually wrote down in detail what we ate but she's somewhere shopping in Midvalley now so I'll just do it from memory..

1) Hairy Crab - plainly boiled, served with vinegar and chopped ginger. We also had this Chinese rice wine called Nu Er something which was served warm with a sour plum inside the cup. The wine goes really well with seafood and the crab was perfect with it. I last had hairy crab in Shanghai in 2005 but that wasnt as nice as the one we had last night! At RM88 per crab, I thought it was a decent price. Others might not think so though.

2) Steamed Hoi Tai Kai - Literally translated, this means "Sea Bed Chicken". However, it is actually an oily salt water fish which is found on the seabed. My dad tells me that this fish is normally very difficult to catch but people rear this fish nowadays so it's more available. He says this fish cant be bought frozen, it has to be fresh and swimming because of its high oil content - if frozen then thawed, there will be a very fishy smell and taste to it. Therefore, this fish aint the cheapest of fish.. RM160+ I think it was last night. In terms of cooking style, the chef just steamed it very gently, it was not overcooked and tasted good with a bowl of rice. I hate fish that are overcooked, worse that being undercooked!

3) Steamed minced pork with salted fish - yes I know that this is a simple dish that you normally would see in a home but not in a restaurant. BUT, I think what makes a chef a good chef is if he can cook simple food and do it good. And this chef can do this dish good, in fact I have it almost everytime I eat there!

4) Stir fried baby "gai choi" with garlic - another simple dish but this restaurant always serves good, fresh vegetables. The veg had a slightly bitter aftertaste which is actually kinda addictive.

5) Tofu with some green sprouts and egg sauce - Im not too sure how to describe this dish really. The sauce went really well with rice but the tofu was rather bland. Perhaps it was because all the dishes were really tasty..

Another thing I'd recommend is their noodles which is made very simple, just a touch of sesame oil, a touch of peanut oil, some salt, and that's it!! But its bloody tasty for something so simple...

I will have more food reviews coming up over the next few days.. Just realised that I'll be having some sort of dinner thing every night until Saturday! Tonight my godbrother, Uncle Lee and his wife are taking to the Chinese restaurant in Melia Hotel. He's been telling us about it for the past few weeks so finally we're going to try..

A note about Uncle Lee: He can eat maybe 3 times of what I can stuff myself with.. And usually when he says something is good, it usually is.. More to come tmrw!