Hai Tian Lou Restaurant @ Jalan Mendu, Kuching

During CNY season, my usual cravings for some Yee Sang and Yum Cha landed me at this place. Usually, I frequent this place at night, but this time, I was there for lunch. Typically, this restaurant is packed to the brim during dinner periods, but during lunch hours, its quite peaceful and quiet.

They have an offer for yum cha whereby if u order 5 dishes, free 1. Their yum cha menu is not as extensive, so we ordered the usual, nothing out of the ordinary.

From the not so oily egg tarts.. where the pastry is just BLAH..

Egg Tarts

 To the not so yummy Shanghai Pork Dumplings, (pastry this time was alright though)..

Shanghai Pork Dumplings

And steam pork ribs which were lacking in taste ..

Steam Pork Ribs

And char siew pao. The Pao was 'okay' but could have given it a miss since the filling was quite fatty, not entirely to my liking.

Cha Siew Pao

And a dim sum must have 'siu mai' which was quite decent.

Siu Mai

However, the Wonton Dumplings was a pleasant surprise, filled with juicy shrimps, and served piping hot, this dish got the approval of my entire family.

Wonton Dumplings

Next up, YEE SANG, welcoming the year of the snake!!

Salmon Yee Sang (RM 40 - ish)

The salmon used in this dish was to my great disappointment, it said FRESH, but it was served quite discolorised. My dad said that the fish was still frozen which is definitely a NO NO. However, the taste of the Yee Sang was alright, thereby somewhat satisfied my cravings.

Onwards to main dishes, presenting Kuching's famous vegetable ' BIDIN', its a bit like paku-pakis/ferns but it taste much nicer (not as sappy).

Cold Bidin

Usually, in typical Chinese restaurants, Bidin is fried with garlic or with wine etc. But in this case, this was the cold version which is slightly more refreshing complete with a tangy taste. Suspected ingredients used to give this dish its lovely taste are lime, raw onions, dried shrimps, garlic and sugar.

Next up, fried beehoon. Although its a simple dish that one can get anywhere, its tasty and fried just to perfection, my favourite dish for the day.

Fried Beehoon

Lets just say the dishes served in this restaurant are so much better than their yum cha service! Will be back for more dinner dates!

Prices are not included as I was too busy ordering food (oops!) and forgot to take note!

Ratings:

Ambience: 5/10

Price: 7/10

Service: 6/10

Food: 7/10

Overall ratings: 7/10

Verdict: Loved the main dishes more so than the yum cha! will be back for more dishes next time =)

Location: Ground Floor, Sublot 8.9 & 10, Section 64,
KTLD, Panovel Commercial Centre,
Jalan Mendu, 93300, Kuching
Contact: 082-256 328