Restoran Garden Seafood @ Tanjung Malim, Perak

It has been a while since I last blogged and after a two month's break, here I am back with another entry from Tanjung Malim, Perak. Well, this isn't the first time that I am writing about Garden Seafood Restaurant and so I shall be skipping the usual lengthy introductions and just keeping it short. This is a place that has been around for more than a decade now and the first Chinese Halal restaurant in town, in fact they are still the only one. A place that has been patronised by many celebrities including three of our Prime Ministers. Under the pretense of dieting, I have not been eating out for a while now and that's the reason for my brief sabbatical from blogging. This afternoon, since all of us were back at our parents place, we decided to do lunch at this restaurant.  

Ample of Parking Bays Available

The Restaurant

Us At The Restaurant

It is an air-conditioned restaurant and they occupy three shop lots. Antiques can be seen adorning the walls along with photographs of celebrities who have visited this restaurant. For those who are keen on having a private functions, a large private hall is available on the first floor that could easily seat 300 people.

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

A fairly comprehensive menu with a dedicated basic number of dishes for vegetarians. Being a seafood restaurant, that thoughtfulness for vegetarians is a rare quality and indeed one that I very much welcome. Most of the dishes except for certain seafood which go by the daily market prices have the prices listed in three different portion sizes. This is another excellent practice that would give an idea as to how much one's total meal would cost. Being a university town, there would be many students who would love to have a meal here and this would tremendously assist them with their budgeting while dining here. Ordering is quite straight forward. Once you are ready, just call on any one of their waiters and they would assist with the orders. Order taking is strictly kept to two of their senior staffs while the rest handle just the serving and clearing of the tables. 

Baling Mushrooms with Beancurd Skin @ RM 12.00

One of our all time favourites here. Do note that this dish is listed under the vegetarian category and not under the Tofu section. For RM 12.00 , the portion is good and they are quite generous with the Baling Mushrooms and Bean Curd Skin. The ingredients are fresh and the dish is truly delicious. If I were to rate this, I would give it a 10/10 . Highly recommended!

Butter Prawns @ RM 28.00

To be honest, I wasn't too happy with the Butter Prawns. It was a little too dry and for the portion size, that price was a premium. I can have the similar dish at any other Chinese restaurant in town for under RM 20.00 . Having been too dry, the butter did not seep in well to the prawns thus tasting rather bland. Not a dish that I would recommend. I would only give this a 5/10 .

Honey Sotong @ RM 12.00

The Honey Glazed Squid was good..... really good. Not only have they used honey, they have also added some Marmite to give it a burst of taste. The squid was crispy and it was a dish that we enjoyed. Rating wise, I would give this a 9/10 .

Fresh Scallops and Asparagus with Belacan @ RM 22.00

We are all aware that scallops are expensive and so, there's nothing to complain about the price. And the good thing is that they were generous with the amount of Belacan used. The asparagus too was cooked to just the right length of time leaving it still crunchy and tasty. Yes, this would be one that I would recommend here and my rating for this shall be 7/10 . 

Salted Eggs Soft Shell Crab @ RM 43.00

The Salted Eggs Soft Shell Crab was another dish that did not excite me. It was just average tasting and I have tasted way better preparations. Not that they were stingy with the ingredients, but it just didn't click well. If it was me alone, then I would have not come to this opinion but the entire family were of the same opinion. So, clearly it wasn't a great dish. I would perhaps rate this at 6/10 .

Bill For The Day

In summary, I have been dining here since the day they started. After all, the owner is my schoolmate and there has been ups and downs taste wise. Today too, there were some dishes that we felt were great and some, not so great. Again, this is solely based on my taste buds and can and may differ to the masses. For first timers, I would suggest to go with their famous dishes and this you could easily pick up from my previous entries on this restaurant. Still, a good place for some Halal Chinese meal and way better when compared to the famous ones in the Klang Valley. Yes, definitely a place that I would recommend and worth travelling the distance from KL. You still end up saving quite a bit.

Address: No. 7, 8 & 9A, Jalan Wangsa Utama, Taman Wangsa,

                35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1200 - 2230 Daily

Telephone: +605 458 3398