A couple weeks ago we were invited to a food review session that promises a good dosage of “Dong Po” (æ±å¡è‚‰) pork belly, and since that is one of my favorite dishes of all time, it was an easy decision to not miss this one.
Update: Secret Garden Chinese Restaurant is permanently closed.
Secret Garden Chinese Restaurant, PJ
The restaurant is Secret Garden at Taman Megah nearby Wolf Modern Dining and almost a walking distance from our previous home in PJ, but alas, this time around it was a bit of a drive, which was fine for some a porking promise.
The restaurant is stunning, with vertical garden, beautiful wooden long table, and tastefully use of empty space. I’m going to go on a limb here to say that it is most likely attributed to the fact that the founders include an interior designer, a fine art illustrator, and a mural artist.
When the surrounding is awesome, appetite also increases, kan?
Anyway, let’s get on the food.
For the review session, we got to sample quite a few dishes from the menu, starting with the appetizer – crispy fried prawn crackers. This is not your typical prawn cracker, but rather thin layer of pastry stuffed with plenty of prawn meat in between, best enjoyed with a dip of Thai chili sauce. I had white wine to go with this, but beer would make for excellent liquid to wash this down.
home style Taiwanese chicken soup w pickled pineapple & bitter melon
Any Chinese restaurant worth it’s salt should serve up a decent bowl of hot soup.
At Secret Garden, the choice was a simple and comforting home style Taiwanese chicken soup with pickled pineapple and bitter melon. I love myself a good bowl of soup, and this version checked the box as well as any with simple everyday ingredients done right.
steamed free range duckweed fed chicken w homemade sauce
Up next was steamed free range duckweed fed chicken with homemade sauce. You can taste the difference in duckweed fed chicken meat compared to the normal wet market/hypermarket variety, the meat is firmer and the skin springier. With the condiments it makes for a good meal by itself with a bowl of rice.
signature Taiwanese style “dong po” pork belly
Then came what I was here for – the signature Taiwanese “dong po” pork belly. I love this dish so much I actually remember where I had it the first two times – first at Chatterbox Bangsar Village, and then at Dengkil Seafood Restaurant.
If you love pork, you gotta try this dish named after the famous Chinese poet Su DongPo (蘇æ±å¡) . The interpretation of this dish at Secret Garden is very, very good, and only made better when you have it with their super soft steamed bun. Can I get this combination for breakfast, please?
grouper fish head in yellow curry with fresh milk
Perhaps to demonstrate the range of dishes this kitchen is able to come up with, we had grouper fish head in yellow curry with fresh milk next.
If really spicy and rich Indian or even Nyonya style curry is your cup of tea, this may disappoint, but if you enjoy milder curry with all the necessary ingredients with a much gentler assault on your taste buds, then this yellow curry may fit the bill. I’m a Penang boy who loves me some really spicy curry fish head, so it was just a tad underwhelming for me.
pan fried fresh king prawn with soya sauce
Pan fried fresh king prawn with soya sauce was my favorite seafood dish of the day. Instead of the usual tiger prawns or “meng har”, this version uses fresh water king prawns, which has big and juicy prawn head to suckle on (human cholestorel isn’t from what you eat, right?). I liked it, and wished I had some rice to go with this.
(btw I’ve published a recipe to my version here, if you care to cook your own)
homemade organic black soya bean tofu in pumpkin gravy, & the hungry bunch
The last dish I got to try before we had to leave due to another appointment was the homemade organic black soya bean tofu in pumpkin gravy. I was told the tofu is made in-house, and it certainly tastes fresh as can be with the texture that’s almost like tofufar, it was nice, and pumpkin gravy certainly served as a good contrast to the salty and savory bits on top of the tofu.
our menu, and some live seafood for your picking too
Overall it was a more than satisfying dinner, and certainly an experience that is made unforgettable thanks to the beautiful dining area and excellent companions we had.
Secret Garden is current modelling the upper level and will be offering Private Dining. You give them a budget and number of pax, and the chef will come up with a menu from carefully chosen ingredients available. There’s currently no set price for Private Dining, I suppose the more you are willing to pay, the more exotic the dishes get.
Thank you Jessica for the invitation and for hosting us!
Address:
Secret Garden Chinese Restaurant
家園ç§æˆ¿èœÂ
7 & 9, Jalan SS 23/15,
Taman Sea,
47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS:Â 3.116306, 101.612408
Tel: 03-7887 6999
Site: secretgarden.my
Is there a difference between free range chicken and free range duckweed fed chicken? I see your favourite dish of the evening is also the most expensive dish! 😉 You can get the prawns cooked this way from sang har meen places 🙂
eatwhateatwhere: I guess there’s a reason why those prawns are expensive, tasteyyy kan! Well, Duckweed chicken only feed on duckweed while free range chicken can be fed with normal chicken feed, with the only difference being that free range chicken gets to roam about.
KY, love looking your Malaysian Chinese food from the restaurants. I from family in Hawaii who are restaurant owners. My mom worked at 13 in restaurant washing tea cups and chopsticks and drinking glasses. Lucky has a machine for that too. And busing tables and serving water to customers. She like working for she learn what it like in life.
Vickie: dishwasher is a godsend, only 2nd to washing machine isn’t it?
The food you had seem so good the dong po pork is my fav for my dad family Taiwan and have from time to time at home. The one dish that stand out is giant prawns with soy sauce now that one must try.
Vickie: yes that prawn is certainly a must-try
no rice = wasted food experience. Sorry! 🙂
immature: rice comes at the end, haha.
Booking for tonight 15/5/19 8pm table for 10pax.
Your Tel no answer.
Audrey: unfortunately this is a blog, not the owner of the restaurant…
Pickled pineapple soup sound stranger to me, but I bet the taste must be quite interesting if paired with bitter gourd.
Choi Yen: yah was quite interesting but not very far out of the norm actually in terms of taste.