TAI Zi Heen Restaurant has a revamped menu that comprises a wide range of delightful dim sum and a la carte dishes, writes C.K. LAM.

Tai Zi Heen Restaurant at Prince Hotel, Kuala Lumpur recently reopened its doors after undergoing minor refurbishment.

It serves predominantly Chinese cuisine although some of the dishes have a bit of Western influence.

There is a huge selection of dim sum and a la carte dishes prepared by chefs Chong Lim Fong and Ricky Thein Yiew Ming.

The revamped menu is extensive. We started with Yi Xian Tian, an excellent brew of Chinese tea, together with a selection of steamed, pan-fried and deep-fried savoury dim sum.

Chef Chong has specially created a wide variety of dim sum. We started with freshly steamed buns stuffed with tender barbecued chicken (RM7.50).

Next was dumpling with cilantro, spring onion and celery. Wrapped in seaweed, each bite was filled with a sense of freshness!

Then there´s steamed chicken and shrimp dumpling with red spinach. The oblong-shaped dumplings were topped with chopped red spinach.

A variety of deep-fried items are also available such as deep-fried spicy salmon yam puff (RM10), deep-fried beef dumplings and unagi spring roll sticks (RM13.50).

The deep-fried beef dumpling was served with mayonnaise garlic sauce. The triple sticks of unagi spring rolls with parmesan cheese and hoisin sauce had the embodiment of the unagi and the crispiness of the wrapper. One bite will leave you craving for more!

I was pleased to find one of my favourite items on the menu. Stir-fried radish cakewith beansprouts in XO sauce (RM8) was top notch.

Tai Zi Heen´s double boiled soups are recommended. We had soup boiled with scallops, mushrooms and many other nutritious ingredients. The clear and deeply flavoured soup was a delicious way to start the meal.

Ricky had broken out of the mould, with the roasted lamb rack with spicy Mongolian-style tomato sauce. The aroma was intoxicating and the meat, pleasantly chewy.

Do not miss out on the pan-fried crispy egg noodles either. At RM48 per serving, it came with a blue river prawn, topped with prawn roe and egg gravy. Simply scrumptious!

We also tried braised tofu on spinach puree, with each piece topped with crab roe (RM35). The taste and flavour of both ingredients helped to enhance the tofu.

For dessert, I thoroughly enjoyed the chilled lemongrass jelly with aloe vera and lime sorbet (RM10.50). The sorbet, tangy with lime juice, was a perfect complement to the heavy meal.

By CK LAM, New Straits Times , 12 Oct 2010