Tea Garden (East Victoria Park) [Halal] — Restaurant in East Victoria Park

What we ordered: Mee Siam dry w/ fried egg Rojak Tofu Special chilli mee Teh Tarik Hot Milo (Large)

This was our second visit to Tea Garden. We ordered the Dry Mee Siam with Fried egg. The Mee Siam was moist without being wet. It was not oily, and it did not leave a greasy aftertaste in the mouth. The flavour was well spread out; there were no plain or thickly flavoured bits and the spice level was decent without being overpowering. There was a good quantity that was served. While dry Mee Siam is usually considered a light dish, the portion was decently filling. The sambal served with the Mee Siam was an excellent addition to the meal and rounded out the experience by adding a very welcome layer of flavour to the dish as a whole. A very minor gripe that I have lies with the slice of lemon that was served, which was a little dry and did not add much juice to the meal.

We ordered the Rojak Tofu on the side, and we loved the balance of flavour in the sauce. It had a good mix of sweet, savoury and spice/heat and had a good quantity to share between two people.

We ordered the Special Chilli Mee as well. The Chilli Mee has a passing resemblance to 'Bak Chor Mee' in that it is served with a portion of minced meat mixed with mushrooms. However, the resemblance ends there as the flavour profiles are quite different. While vinegar has a significant presence in Bak Chor Mee, the sauce used here focuses more on the meat mince and mushrooms. The Chilli Mee also includes Ikan Bilis, a soft boiled egg, fried shallots and of course, a chilli paste. The flavour was strong without being overbearing, and despite my usual aversion to strong mushroom flavours, this one had a good level of mushrooms without being disagreeable to my palate. The noodles were very well cooked. They were cooked thoroughly, but did not turn gluggy or stodgy through the course of the meal, which is normally expected of egg noodles when they have been sitting in sauce for over 20 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised to find the noodles still relatively firm toward the end of the meal.

Lastly, we ordered a Large hot Milo and Teh Tarik. The drinks both had decent serving sizes and had good deep flavours. I noted the hot Milo I had on my first visit had a slightly stronger flavour, and I could taste the condensed milk on both visits, which indicated to me that the drinks did not use a 3-in-1 pre-mix which was very appealing to me, as it perfectly replicates that 'Kopitiam' or Hawker centre taste from home.

The service we received from the staff was excellent as well. They were friendly and attentive, and they remembered us from our first visit. They checked in on us and wanted to ensure we had a pleasant experience. The waiting times for the food was reasonable, with the quickest dish being served shortly after placing the order, to the slowest taking just under 10 minutes. They made a minor mistake with one of our items, but quickly rectified the error without any fuss.

Overall, we were very pleased and impressed with the food and service on both visits. The dishes deliver genuine deep flavours without leaving those greasy after-effects on the stomach, which shows a great deal of thought and skill has gone into the preparation of the food. We will likely be visiting again soon, eager to try...

3.5 stars Venue: street parking/ carparks at rear. Causal setting with retro Malaysialn style decor. A bit packed during rush hours. Outdoor dining is available. Two unisex toilets were clean. --- 7.2/10 Service: depend on which waitress on duty. We came twice (lunch and dinner time). To be seated very soon. Jot down your order on the order slip, and the waitress will collect the order slip (pay before leave). But you are not always given an order slip and menu. Or order & pay via QR scan. Get chilled tap water, serveitte, and extra utensils at the self-service counter. Basic courtesy. Reasonable waiting time for food. A Chinese girl provided very good service 5pm on 22/2/2025 (8/10 to her).--- 7/10 (overall) F&B: Bilingual menu with attractive photos with descriptions of ingredients (some dishes English name are Chinese pronunciation) Malaysian style cuisine. Halal food. Normal presentation of food. Normal portion. Prices are slightly on the high side. Iced Sea Coconut, $6.9: ok. --- 6.3/10 -Duo Hua (Soybean Pudding) with Soya Milk, $6.9: expected more Duo Hua for such price. Dou Hua was smooth and slightly sweet. Larger portion of plain soy milk. --- 6.9/10 Baked Herbal Chicken with Rice, $19.9: whole chicken leg was not wrapped by parchment paper. Slightly dry. Sauce was good. Good portion of steaed rice. --- 7.4/10 Curry Fish Fillet with Rice, $19.9: fish curry was served in hotpot style. There were eggplant, bean, 3 tomato wedges, 3 fried fucuk, and 2 tofu puffs. Good portion of thin fish fillets. Not sure if it's perch as too thin slices. The texture of thin fish pices was just mediocre. Curry sauce was good and not spicy. --- 7/10 Teh Tarik, $6.5: not bad Lunch (first visit): Wat Tan Hor Beef, $19.9: Wok Fried Flat Rice Noodles with Sliced beef and vegetables in egg gravy. A lot of egg gravy was like a thick soup. Beef slices were slightly chewy. Flat Rice Noodles were sticky together. --- 6.6/10 Curry Laksa. $18.9: There were 2 prawns, BBQ chicken skin on. tofu puffs, bean sprouts (tangeh), 3 fried fucuk (bean curd sheets). Can choose mee or bee hoon (rice Vermicelli). Large portion of mild spicy Laksa soup. --- 6.5/10 Luo Han Guo with Cincau & Longan, $8.9: portion was ok. Can taste Luo Han Guo. --- 7.3/10 Iced Hainanese Milk...

After a recent trip to Malaysia, I was craving some tasty food so my friends and I thought we'd give this place a go. No bookings allowed, so we gathered there at 6:30pm. I was running 5 mins late due to parking and arrived only to find the restaurant wouldn't allow my friends to grab a table and sit inside and wait for me. We all had to order, at the same time outside, before we were given a table... weird.

The place was pretty full and we were ushered into a small table not quite large enough for the four of us, with stools instead of chairs. Meh....

I asked for gluten free and my dish came out piled with Poppadoms on top (made of wheat) so I asked the waitress to check about the gluten-ness of the rest of my meal. I was brushed away by the waitress... who I think turned out to be the owner... who was clearly too busy to help. So I asked the girl at the counter who said 'she requested GF but was checking'... My meal arrived first (why did we have to order together??) so by the time the second meal came 5 mins later I asked the waitress who delivered it... only to be met with an irritated 'I don't know'....

Eventually I was assured that although they'd piled wheat on top of my meal, the rest of it was indeed GF (um.. yeah I believe you)... and overall the food was tasty. Not 100% authentic tasting but still yum.

So there we were, the four of us, squashed onto our little table now happily eating... until the owner came up and started carrying on about another customer 'waiting outside who said they didn't feel well and she wanted our table for them'.... It sounded very much like a 'hurry up and finish eating and go'... so I jokingly asked her "oh are you kicking us out?".... she didn't quite understand the joke and answered 'No, no, no... but you have 15 minutes'.....

Errr........

Yeah, I won't be eating there again. Maybe if you have some time for a quick lunch but I'd give dinner...