READER Kong Siew Koon recommended a wantan mee shop in Paramount Garden, Petaling Jaya recently.
In his brief note, Kong said: “Hello Mr Samo, I recommend you to give Char Siew Zhai a try. Their wantan mee is delicious.”
Sometime later, a reporter friend of mine from a Chinese daily confirmed Kong’s recommendation.
He said the shop was reputable and has been given some publicity by the Chinese media.
Tasty treat: The wantan noodles.“Sam ah, you should see the acrobatics la, the noodle shop owner actually flips the wantan mee…”
This became a subject of curiousity and having passed by this makan place numerous times, all I needed was an excuse to makan there.
And my chance came when I invited Ah Singh Kor, my colleague, for lunch at Char Siew Zhai. Now, before I get into the details, let me warn you that the prices in this shop are not cheap.
Its comparable to noodle houses serving Cantonese-styled dishes.
Tucked away: Char Siew Zhai wantan mee shop is located in Paramount Garden, Petaling Jaya.And my friend Ah Singh Kor is no stranger to wantan mee. A Seremban resident, he swears by the high-quality noodles there and the town’s wantan mee is his benchmark.
“Ah Samo, you should come to Seremban la, we go eat Chicken Rice, Curry Laksa and Wantan Mee. Then, you can meet my parents also!”
I was actually a bit worried when my handsome and popular friend mentioned ‘meeting his parents’.
Coming from a guy, it gave me the chills with all the wrong connotations, but since he meant it in a friendly way, I guess Seremban is worth a visit when I drag my friends Cobra Koay, Venom Foo and Viper Lee along.
Okay, back in Char Siew Zhai, we entered the busy makan place which was packed with diners and ordered some noodles.
I settled for a plate of Siew Yuk and Char Siew wantan mee while Ah Singh Kor went on a strict Char Siew Meen diet.
For the simple meal, I was slapped with a bill for RM28 including drinks.
The pricing was steep, and on the Samo-scale, I would rate this place 5 out of 10.
When it comes to quality, I would say that this shop has everything it takes to hit the mark but I am not too comfortable with the noodle aerobatics.
The wantan mee was literally airborne before it hit the sieve. I must say that the man who did all the flipping is a skilfull person.
With bugs and airborne particles, a few tosses in the air might just land you in trouble.
Char Siew Zhai is located in Jalan 20/13, Paramount Garden, Petaling Jaya and the GPS coordinates are: N 03 06 368, E 101 37 529.
