Tang Shifu

Was running really low on fuel today so decided to go into JB to pump petrol. Had to pay S$10 to top up some petrol along the way first so I wouldn't be in breach of the 2/3 tank rule - the cost was about SGD 1.80 per litre for Shell 95. The cost to pump better quality petrol (Shell 97) in Malaysia works out to be about SGD 80 cents per litre. Of cos with the 2/3 tank rule it doesn't make sense for me to drive from my home in the north-east, queue for 1/2 - 1hr to clear both customs just to pump that 1/3 tank of fuel so to make it worth the while, I do grocery shopping and eat in JB as well.

This time, we decided to have dinner at a different place called Tang Shifu (which translates to Soup Master in Eng) that looked relatively crowded for a weekday night compared to the other restaurants on the third floor of Tebrau City. This is the entrance of the restaurant which is located at the center portion of the third floor of the shopping mall.


The service was good, given the number of staff and that the restaurant wasn't filled to its capacity. We were handed two menus - one setting out the set menus for a fixed number of pax. The cost of each set menu was in the hundreds so we dispensed with that menu. The other menu which was impressively bound set out the cheaper set meals, ala carte dishes, desserts (bird nest soup even) and drinks. The most expensive item in there was less than RM100 if I remember rightly.

We were served with preserved guava as an appetiser but neither of us liked guava so we asked for the dish to be removed (oh no, I forgot to check the bill whether we had to pay for this!). We each ordered a bottle of cold american ginseng tea (top left pic) which came in a bottle and a stone mug for us to pour the drink into. For the dishes, it was easier to pick the set meals and I had the American Ginseng Nourishing Soup Set priced at RM23.80 (bottom right pic) while my eating companion order the mee sua set priced at RM 18.90 (bottom left pic). We also shared a veg dish which was about RM 8.90.

The Slog Reviews: 8/10 for the american ginseng tea drink which was refreshing. 5/10 for the veg dish which was tasteless and overpriced for a few leaves. I can't comment on my food companion's mee sua set meal but he seemed to enjoy the herbal soup well enough. His only comment was that the meal wasn't filling. As for my own set meal, I would give that a 4/10. The brown rice was tasteless, grainy and hard. The black beans and whatever it was next to the beans in the small dish was really not worth eating given how soggy and mashed the beans were. And, as for the soup, the black chicken was overcooked so that the meat was tasteless and hard (there was absolutely no flavor to the meat which should have been the case if the chicken was cooked in herbs for a long time) and worse of all, the amount of meat on the bones was for want of a better adjective, pathetic. The soup was "herbal-tasting" enough but not rich enough in taste unlike the herbal soups that I have drunk before. The price of RM 23.80 which is about SGD 10 for this set meal isn't worth it in short. I wouldn't recommend going to this place for dinner if one is at Jusco - there are better places to spend your money on a meal (and the KFC there is not one of them by the way). The total cost of the meal for us was RM 60 (SGD 25) which I thought was on the higher end for such inferior-tasting food. And it really is inferior tasting - and I don't think it was because I had lunch at Gunthers yesterday (too bad it was lunch with vvvvvips and those who decide my pay/fate else I would have taken pics of the caviar appetiser and my kurobuta pork shoulder slices drenched with truffle juice and the fine apple tart!!!!)

On a side note, Tang Shifu restaurant is part of the premises of a traditional Chinese medicine shop which sells abalone, bird nest, ginseng etc. I didn't take a look at what was being sold after the disappointing meal. One could do better with soups sold at a food court in SG for less the price.