Lan Je Steamed Tilapia, Kota Damansara

I got to know about Lan Je from KampungBoyCityGal's post. The way they describe the steamed tilapia is really hard to resists. So when my colleague asked me what do I recommend for our off shift lunch on Friday, I suggested Lan Je.

Lan Je has three outlets, the original is in Rawang (quite far), and the other two branches are in Kota Damansara and Balakong respectively. As the three of us stay near Kepong and Selayang, so the outlet in Kota Damansara is the obvious choice for us.

As I've already know what's the lunch crowd will be like during peak hour, we chose to go there at about 11.30 a.m. True enough, the lunch crowd is not there yet but there's already 4 to 5 tables taken by customers there.

To my surprise, Lan Je is a pork free restaurant but if you have watched the 15Malaysia film Halal, you will know that pork free doesn't mean Halal. As with any restaurant uses fresh market produce, the price is based on the market price of the day, which is listed on a whiteboard hanging on the wall.

We ordered a pot of boh lei (普洱 pu er tea) (lol sounds like boleh). The tauke lui (she seems to be the daughter of the boss of this outlet helping out during school holiday) asked us whether we want to order steamed tilapia for each of us. Just as she spoken, I saw the table next to us was served with one steamed tilapia per customer @_@ We declined the offer and ordered one bigger steamed tilapia mild spicy. There's a few level of steamed tilapia in term of spiciness in Lan Je, not spicy, mild spicy, very spicy and super spicy (it is the amount of cili padi they put that differs the spicy level lol). We ordered two more dishes, stir-fried choi tham (菜胆) and kungpo chicken (宫保鸡).




The first dish to reach our table is the stir-fried choi tham (菜胆). I like it very much because it is very fresh. I can feel the crispy texture once I bite into the leaf and the saltiness is just nice. Most of the saltiness comes from the fried small anchovies. I wonder where they sourced for the vegetable. I recommend this as the vegetable dish to order here.

Rating: 4/5

Next dish is kungpo chicken (宫保鸡), which is quite a disappointment, it's like the wok hei is not enough and the sauce on the chicken is a bit wet, from my point of view a good kungpo chicken, the sauce should be dry and absorbed into the chicken meat. That is why kungpo chicken is an easy dish to learn but hard to master. Make a self note, not to order kungpo chicken the next time I come here.

Rating: 2.5/5

The steamed tilapia took about 20 minutes to be ready and it was very well worth the wait. If a steamed fish is served to you in a short time, you will surely get a steamed fish that doesn't taste good. Why? Have you ever tasted nice steamed fish in wedding dinner? Because of time constraint, some restaurant steamed the fish first without the sauce, then when there's order, the cook just put the sauce and condiments on the steamed fish.

From the look at the fish eye, I already know that the tilapia is very fresh. True enough, I can't find gamey taste at all when I bite into it. The tilapia is not over or under cook either, just nice enough for the meat to be smooth and tender. No wonder each customer must order one steamed tilapia all for themselves. We ordered mild spicy. If, I have the steamed tilapia all to myself, I'll order super spicy ;)

Rating: 4.8/5

We've cleaned all three dishes. I of course finish off the fish head.

By the time we finish eating, the restaurant was already packed and there's customers waiting for table. True enough the steamed tilapia here is truly amazing. Will surely come for another visit.

Address:

Restoran Lan Je (籣姐清蒸非洲鱼)
F-50G & 51G, Jalan Teknologi 3/9
Bistari “DE” Kota
Kota Damansara
PJU 5, Petaling Jaya
Open from 11.30am-3pm, 6-9pm. Closed on Tuesdays.
Tel: 012-669 9919, 016-6189919

Map (click to enlarge):
Kota Damansara

Rawang

Balakong

Other Ppl's View:

Masak-masak
KampungBoyCityGal
A Whiff of Lemongrass
Motormouth