Ying Ker Lou Chinese-Hakka Cuisine Tea Time Promotion @ Pavilion KL

Ying Ker Lou – an expensive looking and award winning restaurant that claims to serve authentic and MSG free Chinese-Hakka cuisine. If it’s not for their tea time dim sum promotion, I don’t think I’d ever step in for a meal. But also thanks to the promotion, I wouldn’t have the desire to dine there anymore. But just to be clear, this post is only valid for reference if you intend to try their tea time promotion. Their “normal hour” food could paint a different story though.

I will start with the dim sum we liked most – Steamed Siew Mai with Prawns @ RM6. The compact texture is a rarity in Siew Mai, plus the prawns were fresh and intensely sweet so there was really nothing to fault with it.

Hakka Bamboo Shoot Dumplings @ RM5, the skin was way too chewy while the fillings tasted forgettable.

Hakka Minced Pork Pantiao @ RM6, the portion has been reduced to match the discounted price. As for the taste, think of the normal Hakka Mee you could get at any hawker stall. But the noodles are completely textureless. Then double, maybe even triple the dose of seasoning. That’s just how terrible and salty it was.

I don’t really understand the fuss behind this Hakka Yam Abacus (RM6) despite being a Hakka myself. If you are a Hakka as well, I bet someone in your family knows how to cook this dish. And I am certain you would enjoy their version more than Ying Ker Lou’s, which was just sad and uninpsiring.

Prawns Rice Rolls @ RM6. It could have fared much better if more prawns were given. The RM6 price tag is just not justified, especially if you compare it to the Siew Mai earlier.

Char Siew Bao @ RM4 was OK, not something I would expect them to fail at anyway.

There are some other items we tried but it’d be a repetition of the words “salty” and “not nice”, so no point lah. Just FYI the tea time promotion allows you to order some of their ala carte items (mostly dim sum) at a discounted price of RM3-RM6. It is only valid from 10am to 12pm and from 3pm to 6pm.

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