Oriental Pavillion

Table snack of braised-fried peanuts, beancurds and french beans

Cousin Anthony and cousin-in-law, Mei Yee had exchanged vows at the Thean Hou Temple in KL earlier and both families and immediate relatives and close friends gathered for dim sum brunch at Oriental Pavillion in Jaya33, Section 13 Petaling Jaya. Formerly the Oriental restaurant in the Old Jaya on the opposite side of Jalan Semangat.

As the food quality by the Oriental Group was quite a reputation, I had expected the same of this outlet that had also been given a new look. Rather disappointed as most of the dim sum items were not up to par; they were way too mediocre, too fishy or too porky, or too fat for the freaking expensive prices.

Pan-fried Shanghai dumpling

The pan-fried Shanghai dumplings, priced at RM6 for three pieces, were mediocre as I had better ones in Ramen in Damansara Uptown, PJ as well as Tai Thong restaurants. The freshly shredded ginger with chinese black vinegar was so little that we were not sure who should have the dumpling with the condiment.

Baked BBQ pork tarts, deep-fried prawn dumpling, steamed BBQ pork buns

Tai Thong's BBQ pork tarts are a lot better than these that we had. For three small pieces at RM5, the pastry was bit too thick, and the filling was just so so; neither tasty nor bland. The deep-fried prawn dumplings served with mayonnaise were dry to me and the pastry was not crispy. That RM6 for three pieces was not worth paying for. The BBQ pork buns filling had too much fatty pieces, and we had dig them out so as not to get too stodgy, though the bun skin was soft and not overly thick. They were served in three for RM5.

Roasted pork (siew yuk), BBQ pork (char siew), steamed beancurd

The roasted pork, BBQ pork and steamed beancurd (tofu) came in a platter. The roasted pork were way too thick and the skin were hardly crispy with an overly strong porky taste. The tofu was nothing to shout about, plain, hardly any fragrance and were flavoured by the light soy sauce. The BBQ pork was the only item that was good. Sweet, crispy fragrant chargrilled outer layer and tender on the inside, the proportion of fats was just nice and that melted in the mouth.

Braised Phoenix Chicken, steamed cheong fun with prawns, steamed fish balls

For RM6, the braised chicken feet was mediocre and were bit too oily yet dry to my liking. The steamed cheong fun (steamed rice sheets) with prawns, priced at RM10 per portion, were way too below standard as the skin were bit coarse and rather thick and hard. For that price, I had expected soft, smooth skin with tasty filling and it was real shame that Oriental compromised on its long standing reputation. The version that came with BBQ pork filling also needed tastier and flavourful filling. Steamed fish balls were far too fishy for a restaurant of such standard, as though they were made from some cheap rotten fish and we paid RM5 for a plate of three pieces.

Fried noodles, stir-fried chinese lettuce and pan-fried radish cakes

Fried noodles could do bit more with flavour and taste as I found it rather bland. The stir-fried chinese lettuce was not too bad as the lettuce were fresh and crunchy with the right hint of taste. Pan-fried radish cakes were bland and fragrantless. The pan-fried radish cakes sold in the night market in SS2 on Mondays and Cheow Yang on Thursdays by the one-man-show chinese hawker are far better than these, and they definitely cost less than RM6 with bigger portion.

I guess it's time to bid goodbye to this outlet as we would unlikely to re-visit it.

Oriental Pavillion

Level 1, Jaya33

Jalan Semangat

46200 Petaling Jaya