Monday, November 23, 2009

Purple Cane Tea Restaurant @ Gardens, Midvalley, KL

Interesting concept - Chinese food (no pork) infused with tea....

" Tea infused food? How interesting! ", I thought.

I had always wanted to check out this unusual concept restaurant at the LG level of the Gardens shopping centre and finally did so last week. :)
(I admit, I was a bit disappointed to find out that they did not serve any pork but I guess most restaurants in Malaysian shopping centres don't, to be able to cater to a larger crowd):
From the outside....

Anyway, inside, the restaurant is cosy with a clear Asian influence:
Inside Purple Tea....

If I remember correctly, other than the fairly wide range of ala carte dishes (available in varying serving sizes), and also 5 lunch sets to choose from. That day, I had the Simmered Chicken with Tea Rice set (RM 19.90+):
The Simmered Chicken set....

Overall, not bad. The chicken was pretty tender and the rice was fluffy (although just a tad too dry). As usual, my salt loving tastebuds tried to revolt: " So bland wannnnnn.... ", " Hmmm, tastes a bit sweet lah... ", they said.

*sigh* My taste buds just love salty and oily (yummy but unhealthy) food. :(

We also tried another one of the set lunches - the Braised Chicken with Man Tao set (RM 19.90+):
The Braised Chicken set....

Overall, this was also ok - the chicken was fairly tender and tasty, and the man tao was fluffy and not starchy (yay!).

We came across a Frankenstein of a drink on the menu - the C.A.T., short for Coffee, Apple, Tea (RM 7.90+):
Confusing drink....

On one hand, it was pure genius - the drink seem to magically glide from the fragrance of coffee to the sweetness of apple and finished with the slight bitter taste of tea. On the other hand,... erm... yikes.
(Maybe it's just me, but as much as I appreciated how unique this drink was, I am never ordering it again. Haha...)


So it's: Fairly wide range of healthier versions of Chinese food, comfortable ambience BUT nothing really negative to say but just that service could be a biiiit friendlier and the food wasn't salty enough for me (Not really their fault - it's supposed to be healthy food)....


Restaurant Review
Summary Sheet:


Purple Cane Tea Restaurant @ LG Floor, Gardens Shopping Centre, Mid Valley
LG-206, Lower Ground Floor,
The Gardens, Mid Valley City


Taste: 6
Ambience : 6
Service : 6
Price** : RM 30/+ per person
Parking: Difficult on weekends

** Approximation - 3 course meal, excluding drinks
Telephone No.: 03-2283 6090
(03-21453090 for Shaw Parade outlet, 03-22723090 for Chinese Assembly Hall outlet)
Opening Hours: 10am till 10pm

NO PORK SERVED




OTHER REVIEWS:
- Masak-Masak
- Eat, Drink and Be Merry!
- Honey Star
- Big Boys Oven
- Simple Kiddy Tofu


TAGS: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

8 comments:

  1. glad to see them up and running at The Gardens after so long.
    healthy cuisine, tea-infused though you can't really taste the tea leaves.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I gotta agree that the food here comes with a sweet tinged. Next time skip the set meals and order dishes instead. They taste much better.

    Think you'll like the kungpo mushrooms, signature tofu and maybe the lychee tea chicken or something liddat.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I ate at their Shaw Parade outlet. Yup, might be a bit bland. I asked for more sambal for my fried rice!

    But overall i do like the food for its "natural, subtle" flavours ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. to J2Kfm:
    It's good to have a healthier meal, to balance out the sin. :)

    to qwazymonkey:
    Sounds yummy! :)
    Will have to round up more ppl to sample - the last time we stuck to the set lunch bcos too few ppl...

    to the nomadGourmand:
    Haha.. Well, you know me lah! :) I generally prefer my food salty and spicy. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. yeah the ala carte dishes sounds way better than the ones u had..usually go there for dinner..

    ReplyDelete
  6. you will find the food quite bland... not salty, not oily.. in other word, healthy!
    Try to read the menu and you will find most (maybe all) of their dishes are infused with tea :)
    Purple Cane is famous for the tea so it only makes sense that you order Chinese tea with the food. Try their herbal egg infused with tea, burdock chicken soup (come in a tea set... creative!)... a-la-carte dish is the way to go, as said by Joe :)
    I am a member as I drink tea a lot..

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds too healthy for me la. Maybe I'll bring my parents there. Since they eat everything with less salt, less sugar! >P

    ReplyDelete
  8. to "Joe" who is constantly craving:
    Will try to go back soon to try...
    Most of the dishes sound really interesting.. :) :)
    (But just not used to the "healthy" taste! Haha...)

    to thule a.k.a leo:
    Oh, they have a membership system there? Cool... I know I should drink more tea but so far I am naughty and only drink lots of coffee. :)

    to Bangsar-bAbE:
    Haha... I guess we are on the same boat! :) But yeah, I think your parents should like it.

    ReplyDelete

Appreciate your thoughts, opinions and feedback. :)