Restaurant 52
Written on Monday, October 27, 2008 by Ian Tan
Firstly, the restaurant doesn't have any billboard or sign to indicate that it is a restaurant and it looks very much like a normal house in Semenyih. The only reason why I did not end up in the wrong restaurant is the fact that there were lots of people going in and out of the place and the bright orange table cloth being dried out on the fence of the "house". From the outside, it looks like a normal house with lots of "quite" luxurious cars, there were a new Accord, a Mercedes, an Alphard, a BMW and so on.
Ok, overall, it is just like any other small town air-conditioned restaurant where the patrons are just there for the food. Ambiance is obviously on the low side and service is also pretty crappy (and somewhat quite impatient). However, like they say, the more impatient and rude they are, the food ought to be good. It is a proportional equation I guess. First off the line, we ordered the curry fish head (with extra vegetables thrown in).
The curry fish head is the type where the fish head has been cut up into small pieces and deep fried prior to cooking the curry. The overall taste is quite good except that the gravy is not smooth enough and hence creates the impression that it is on the spicy side. They were very generous with the vegetables which consist of brinjals, lady fingers, tau-pok, cabbage and long beans. Overall, this dish gets a 4 out of 7. Next on the list is "mui-choi-kau-yuk" ...
This being one of my favourite dishes is cooked very well. The presentation is something which can be better; where most places will place the vegetables and meat alternately, this place just cook them all together! However, the texture of the vegetable and meat is really good. However, for those who expected it to be more tasty, this place probably uses very little five spice powder in order to ensure the silky smooth texture of the meat. It compromises the lack of spice with being on the sweet side. Overall, this dish can be rated 5 out of 7, mainly for being not as oily as other places.
A boring foo-yong-tan. It is cooked well, nothing much to say about it except that this place can't even get a simple thing like "no chilli" right! Sigh ... very average, nothing really wrong with it, so 4 out of 7.
Every table seems to be ordering this dish, seems to be a popular dish. We ordered a portion for one person, just to try it out. Overall, the dish is excellent with the exception of the main ingredient which is the prawns. They were not that fresh at all and not large enough to accompany this dish. The noodles were just lightly crunchy and a little chewy; the gravy is smooth, not starchy at all and taste just right. As the prawns were not that fresh, I would just give it 4 out of 7 as it is after all the main ingredient!
Lastly, we tried the spinach in superior soup. The captain will ask whether you want it with or without the century egg and we opted for without. Although this is a plain simple dish, they did cook it very well and with the very succulent fish cakes, it makes this plain soupy dish probably the only one where we had no criticism for. Soup is on the sweet side but very pleasant and has no grainy feel to it (as is quite usual for many places that does this dish). I would rate it 5 out of 7.
Every table seems to be ordering this dish, seems to be a popular dish. We ordered a portion for one person, just to try it out. Overall, the dish is excellent with the exception of the main ingredient which is the prawns. They were not that fresh at all and not large enough to accompany this dish. The noodles were just lightly crunchy and a little chewy; the gravy is smooth, not starchy at all and taste just right. As the prawns were not that fresh, I would just give it 4 out of 7 as it is after all the main ingredient!
Lastly, we tried the spinach in superior soup. The captain will ask whether you want it with or without the century egg and we opted for without. Although this is a plain simple dish, they did cook it very well and with the very succulent fish cakes, it makes this plain soupy dish probably the only one where we had no criticism for. Soup is on the sweet side but very pleasant and has no grainy feel to it (as is quite usual for many places that does this dish). I would rate it 5 out of 7.
On the wall of tihs restaurant, they have a "cutting" from an English paper on a review which basically praises the place for cheap price for "heavenly" food. Either I am the unlucky one, or the author of that article is related to the shop, but it is not "heavenly" but I would still rate it as good. Cheap is subjective as our bill for the above came up to more than RM70/- (RM24 for the curry fish head, RM12 for the sang-har-meen, RM12 for the kau-yoke, not sure about the others). In addition to the above, we had 6 rice, chinese tea for 4, 1 soya bean. It is not expensive, so maybe for a KLite or a PJian, it can be deemed as "cheap". I would have just classify it as "good, affordable hakka family food".
Tel: 03-87238733
Business Hours: 11:30 am - 2:30 pm; 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Website: N/A
Must Try Dishes: Dark Beer Ribs (Hark Ber Pai Kuat)
Tastiness: 7/10
Food Quality: 6/10
Hygience: Dunno
Halal/Non-Halal: Non-Halal
Value for Money: 7/10
Parking: Quite ok, about 6 cars in the compound, about 10 next door, about 6 across the road, about 4 at the side road ... you get the picture.
Would you recommend this to a friend?: No, unless you do live around the area.
Would you go there again?: Yes, 'coz I don't live too far away.
GPS Coordinate: TBA
Map: As below, it is right at the corner between Jalan 1 and Jalan Sungai Lalang
