The Food Tree offers fine-dining experience

The Food Tree
10, Jalan Pelukis U1/46,
Section U1,
Temasya Industrial Park,
Glenmarie, Shah Alam.
Busines hours: From 7.00am and opens its
fine dining experience from 6.00pm onwards.
Ample parking available.

TUCKED away in a quite corner of Shah Alam’s commercial and industrial area is a restaurant that serves a variety of halal Asian Chinese cuisine with an added contemporary touch.

Contrary to the usual set menus available in most restaurants, The Food Tree is serving its specialities in fine dining style where the dishes are served on individual platters.

Tasty spread: Chef Chong with his halal Chinese cuisine

The Food Tree consists of three dining outlets, featuring Only Mee homemade noodles, Rich Dad kopitiam concept and Shanghai 10 dim sum serving a variety of dishes. By evening, a portion of the dining area is transformed to suit the setting of fine dining.

The humble chef from Ipoh said he uses only natural ingredients to enhance flavours as he does not believe in additives such as colouring and monosodium glutamate (MSG). With seven cook books under his name, the health conscious Chong Thin Fong, 36, makes it a point to obtain the flavours with natural ingredients although they are tedious.

“It may take hours but the outcome is much tastier and healthier,” he said.

The deep fried grouper fish and prawns in ebiko and wasabi was not as spicy as expected. The chef made it less spicy to appeal to all customers.

Another deep fried dish was the soft shell crab with special sauce. It was crispy and complemented well with the sauce made from a mix of thai sauce and mayonnaise which gave a spicy and sour taste. A green apple was used to present the sauce, where the top was cut off and the insides scooped out to make an appetising bowl to hold the sauce.

“Everything on the plate is edible because some children may mistakenly eat the decorative pieces,” said Chong who also makes delicious noodles dishes.

Lovely presentation: Crystal cakes with red bean filling are decorated with pretty edible garnish.

“My herbal braised chicken noodles are a favourite here. Traditional method in making this dish includes the Chinese wine but I have substituted it with ginger juice which gives a similar taste and its halal,” he added.

The fish slice with seaweed noodles had a distinct taste. All noodles are made fresh every morning at the restaurant. Patrons coming in early may get the chance to see the noodles making process through a glass panel. The mix vegetable in bean curd pouch had mushrooms and carrot in it to give a balance of vegetables in the meal.

The desserts were appealing to the eye and palate. The crystal cakes stuffed in red bean and served cold are available in three flavours which are mango, pandan and red bean. The red bean filling was sweet and very smooth, the result of boiling the beans for eight hours to let it turn into a paste naturally without mashing.

A must-try for durian lovers are the durian pancakes which are deceiving at the first look. Fresh durian and whipped cream are wrapped in a thin pancake mixed with custard powder to give the yellowish tint mimicking a real durian piece.

This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.