Roast Pork, Happy Garden, Kuchai Road Kuala Lumpur

Located in this really old run down shop next to the famous 4 faced Buddha in Happy Garden, is this really popular roast pork stall. (never realized there was one as this shop looks really run down.)
It is advised to get to this place before lunch. If you're late, there will be no tables and most of the time, their famous roast pork (烧肉)will be sold out.
After hearing about their so called fame, I decided that I had to go see for myself. My first time, I got there at about 12.30pm. Crowd was already there and I could not get a table inside, therefore had to settle for one outside that was barely in the shade.
Damn, this shop is old. Windows missing, pipes leaking, walls that need some paint work done and floors that require a whole month of scrubbing.
No wonder comes to take orders other than this pretty friendly Chinese lady that sells drinks. Walked over to the stall and placed my order. Char Siew (叉烧), Roast pork (烧肉)  and Roast Chicken.
The food took forever to come. Place was not exactly crowded, wonder what took so long. When it finally came, I was hungry. First impressions. Roast pork looked OK but the char siew, I had my doubts. Too red for my liking. Red meaning they used coloring on the meat making them look too red on the surface. Not good. Here we go again, sigh.

This looks pretty nice. Taste wise not bad but nothing to really shout about either.

Now check out the red borders of each slice of meat. That is coloring. Char Siew should be BBQ-ed for color, aroma and taste.

Another photo of the coloring to emphasize my point!

The roast pork although cut not as thinly as other places which is good, is actually on the average in terms of taste, aroma and texture. Yes, if you compare to some other places around this area, I will agree that this one is one of the better ones. Crispy skin but does not have that melt in your mouth experience. I reckon that the soya sauce should be kept separate and not poured on the roast pork. Soya sauce will cover the taste of the meat and often get the crispy skin soggy even before it reaches your table. Roast pork is normally already on the salty side therefore you do not need to drown it with soya sauce unless you have something to hide..Smirk!!
The BBQ pork....hmm...not good. I hate going to places where they have colored char siew. Reason why it's called char siew is before you BBQ the damn meat. OUT!!!!
Roast chicken..very very normal. Any other decent chicken rice stall can do this.

Overall. = Dirty restaurant which mean hygiene is of concern though I've not gotten a tummy ache yet and Yes I do have a pretty strong stomach. Food wise, they ain't cheap. For two persons, this will cost you about RM20+ excluding drinks.

Roast Pork = 1.5 (because they were not cut into paper thin slices)

Char Siew = 0

Roast Chicken = 1 (if you can't get this right then you had better shut it down)

WIR - Hmm..I will come back but maybe just stick to the roast pork and nothing else.

Crystal Jade Kitchen @ Gardens, Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur

Crystal Jade is actually a huge chain of Shanghainese themed restaurants that have outlets all over South East Asia and China. They started off with the first restaurant in Kuala Lumpur years back out of Lot 10 and has since grown to a few around the Klang Valley. I happened to be in the Gardens on Sunday and was looking around for food. Walked past the so-called fast food outlet of Crystal Jade called Crystal Jade Kitchen and the set lunch menu kinda looked good.


I reckon for the set lunch menu, I will do a photo by photo analysis. (Easier to read right?)

3 Combination BBQ Meat rice. Chicken, Char Siew and BBQ Sausages. Check out the amounts given. Just 2 pieces of chicken, another couple of pieces of the other meat. Damn! Plus a salted duck's egg. If you're really hungry, I really don't know where this things will be in my stomach. Not good value! 

Is this Char Siew? More like red colored meat. Look at the coloring! Char Siew needs to be a little fatty and not entirely lean in order for it to have that Char Siew taste. This does not even look BBQ-ed! BAD! OUT!! 

BBQ Sausages - The way they cut this..amateurs! Who the hell cuts their sausages in angles like that. Not only does it not taste good, it looks terrible. OUT!

Shanghainese Siao Loong Pao. Two tiny pao's in one big bamboo steamer case. Presentation!! Fail! The dumplings are not too bad. Only thing is that the skin is too thick.

Now this is the only thing that is worth mentioning. Their soup that came together with the set. Great soup, a bit like the one mum does (minus the MSG lol). Peanuts, pork ribs and I think I saw some chicken feet. Good Soup.

Waterchestnut dessert. (Ma Tai Lou) It is meant to be a cold dessert but not cold enough. Almost room temperature and in this heat, we all prefer it to be colder. Not too sweet but have tasted better.

Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup. Bloody hell!! For 10 freaking bucks a bowl, can't these buggers not spill some on the side. Are the cooks blind? Please at least wipe the damn bowl before serving it. Presentation again!!! Tasted like those pre-pack ones you get at the super markets. OUT!

This place actually looks like a fast food corner. Only has about 8-9 tables. I wonder how are they going to cope and survive. They are not a fast food restaurant and I do not see anyone taking out. 


Food - Mediocre. You would expect an international food chain to have better quality but nope..Not here.


Service - Average. At least the bill and food came pretty fast.


Price - Not cheap. The set is not too bad for price considering you get four small dishes. 


Would I go again? Don't think so.