Restoran Garden Seafood has been around for many years now and it is very famous here in Tanjung Malim. The uniqueness of this restaurant is their Halal status and this attracts a huge customer base from all religions across Malaysia. One would be surprised if I said that two of the past Prime Ministers have dined at this restaurant but it is true, this restaurant has it's own customer base that goes as far as Seremban in the south and Ipoh in the north. I have not been coming here as much as I used to because the prices have been going up and the portions have been shrinking. Besides this, the taste has also been dropping as there has been a reduction in the amount of ingredients used to churn out each dish. Having last visited over a year ago, we decided to come here again today for our lunch. Another problem here is the number of tourist buses that visit this restaurant. Sometimes, out of the blues, a bus load of tourists may just drop in and when that happens, all hell breaks loose. Then we locals would not get a place to sit and food may not be sufficient too to cater for the whole lot. So always be prepared for surprises when planning to visit this place. It is best to call before coming. This restaurant belongs to a classmate of mine and although he has been a a classmate of mine for many years and still is a very good friend, my reviews shall still be independent and our close friendship shall never interfere with my reviews.
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| The Restaurant in Taman Wangsa Utama |
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| At The Restaurant |
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| Antique Items Displayed At The Restaurant |
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| Air Conditioned Dining Hall |
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| The Air Conditioned Dining Area |
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| The Restaurant |
My family and I are well known here and we are always greeted on arrival by the supervisor and the owner himself. This restaurant occupies three units on the ground floor and has a huge dining hall on the first floor which is mostly used for private functions.
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| Chinese Tea @ RM 0.50 each |
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| Soy Sauce, Sambal Belacan and Diced Garlic |
Once we took our seats, we ordered our drinks and then they were sent over to the table. The waitresses here know that we would usually ask for the Sambal Belacan and diced Garlic and they brought it even before we asked for it. The Sambal Belacan here is a special preparation and it tastes really good. You should give it a try when you are here too.
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| My Dad Going Through The Menu |
The Menu here has a range of dishes right from vegetarian to seafood. Except for some seafood dishes, the rest of the dishes have their prices clearly printed on the menu. Another good thing here at this restaurant is that if you are unhappy with a dish, just tell them and they would not charge you for that dish. That's a good practice which has been in place from day one. Despite having crabs on their menu, this is something that is mostly not available. The owner informed me that not many people order it and so he does not stock it, unless someone makes a reservation a few days in advance and then, he would make the relevant arrangements for the required quantity.
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| Tofu with Minced Chicken @ RM 9.00 |
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| Tofu with Minced Chicken @ RM 9.00 |
This was a good dish. The minced chicken was slightly sweet and spicy and it was topped on the deep fried Tofu. The Tofu too was soft and delicious. Definitely a good preparation and I would rate this at 8.3/10 .
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| Baling Mushroom with Bean Curd Skin @ RM 12.00 |
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| Baling Mushroom with Bean Curd Skin @ RM 12.00 |
This is one of their vegetarian dishes and one of our favourite dishes too. Baling Mushrooms were served with Bean Curd Skin, Vegetables and Soy Sauce. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, this was a wonderful dish. Definitely a highly recommended dish here. I would rate this dish at 9/10 .
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| Honey Sotong @ RM 12.00 |
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| Honey Sotong @ RM 12.00 |
The Honey Sotong was nice, just that for the price of RM 12.00, the portion was a little small. Even in Kuala Lumpur, the portion is slightly larger than this. The Squid was deep fried with a flour coating and is simmered with some honey. Taste wise, the Squid were well prepared and I would rate this dish at 7.8/10 .
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| Mantis Prawns with Dried Chilies @ RM 12.00 |
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| Mantis Prawns with Dried Chilies @ RM 12.00 |
I was a little disappointed with this dish. The dried chilly batter was nice but the Mantis Prawns which were supposed to be crisp were soaked and soggy. I am not sure if they were not too fresh or a tad too much of the sauce had been used when preparing the dish. Either way, it was not up to the mark and I would rate this at 6/10 only.
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| Black Pepper Mussels @ RM 12.00 |
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| Black Pepper Mussels @ RM 12.00 |
Although the portion looks huge, there were only five Mussels in this dish. The Black Pepper Sauce was very delicious and together it was a perfect dish. The only setback would be the quantity. Taste wise, I would rate this at 9/10 .
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| Our Bill For This Afternoon |
Overall, as expected even before dining here, the taste was just okay and the portions are just shrinking with every visit. When I say just okay, I am comparing this with other Chinese Restaurants out there. I do hope that the food would improve. I do not mind him charging us more for excellent dishes with reasonable portions. What I cannot accept would be that they are providing us average food and smaller quantities when even compared with restaurants in Kuala Lumpur, all simply because of the fame that had been built over the years. Hoping for a change as they can definitely do much better than this as they were there before.
Address: No. 7 & 8, Jalan Wangsa Utama, Taman Wangsa,
35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 1200 - 2230 Daily
Telephone: +605 458 3398
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Garden-Seafood/117021175005196?sk=info&ref=page_internal
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