On the new year day, we were stuck at home the entire morning due to home minister went to church event. We had late lunch as we thought its going to be less crowded and boy was we so wrong. We ended up spent 45 minutes to drive 2km to the mall, and spent another 45 minutes to not have a parking spot, in the end I dumped the car beside the dumpster which nobody dare to park.
Frankly speaking, i am not very fond of Taiwanese food. Having Taiwan theme isn't really attracting my attention though. However, we decided to visit this shop for 1 reason, the crowd that never exchaust. This shop started business couple of months ago, it has apways been full house and that really got us curious how good it is.
Shop layout was originally designed for supplement company that recently gone bankrupted and took over by another bigger pharmaceutical company, i believe the new management would have realized protein powder isn't a showroom product anymore in view of online ordering is so much more conveneint and low cost. So, the "kitchen" part was originally designed for stock keeping and the entire dining area was originally bottles of muscle powder on the display shelf.
We've got our oder done on QR menu. Once again, this is to eliminate the need for servicing staff to take order. If you ordered anything wrong, then its customer's fault. You can no longer go customers always right, the left aide is the door, you can get out if you don't like it.
The first came to the table was a bowl of braised chicken with mustard vege and yam cube. This is very similar to the Fujian taste my cousin usually very proud of. Geographically, Fujian and Taiwan share the same sea water. Historically, Taiwan WAS an island of Fujian. They spoke the same language, same accent and not surprise their food tasted similar. Sweet and sour is part of the main ingredient of the south east, but i am ok as my ancestors came from the south west. Technically, all southern Chinese likes sweet and savory.
My dotter got ordered a bowl of dumpling noodles. According to the shop introduction, they're very famous for their handmade noodles. By the look of it, they look ok to me. I didn't taste it, but the girl finishes the whole bowl, i think that means approved. I'm ok with machine made noodles, so the "handmade" part doesnt appear to be any important to me except it cost way more than a machine made noodles.
I got a little over confidence and ordered a set of peanut and sesame paste noodle with fried chicken chop. Initially it was kinda fun, as if eating peanut butter spread with noodle. The smoothness of the peanut and sesame broth did brought up a new layer of creaminess to the noodle, so smooth and tasted so good as I'm a "nut" person. The fried chicken though, quite tender on the inside, and super crunchy on the outside. I got a little tegret after doing it halfway, as the peanut broth started to expand and jamming up my tummy. I had to finished up the rest of the noodle by jamming them down my throat, but i couldn't finish the chicken, i had to take them home.
We ordered a plate of Gyoza to share. By the time this thing served, i am already half full and couldnt say im still craving for it anymore. What i dont like about it was the presentation, why cant they just flip it back to how it should looked like. Oh well again, the door is on the left. If customer is always right, then please proceed to the left. They could never care less. Taste was OK, but definitely not making any positive impact on me, at least the presentation wise.
Home minister got her mustard minced chicken noodle. She complaint it doesnt taste like the one my mother normally cooked during Chinese New Year. I had to go through the entire south east west China story again. Other than the main dish that doesn't satisfy us as much as we wished, but the briased egg and braised tofu side dish is super delicious.
The total bill set us back some 100+, not exactly affordable kinda lunch for 4. However, now we have the experience already, if we ever come back, we're going to order one set of the meal, then extra braised eggs and tofu with extra rice to feed 2 person 🤣
Manjoe Taiwanese Dumpling (Aeon Kepong)
Restoran Taiwan Manjoe
Google maps
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9qQfKhLMLUfU5tU17
Address
1, Jalan Metro Prima, Taman Kepong, 52100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur