Tek Sen Restaurant — Restaurant in George Town

Got a recommendation from my uncle for this resto. We went there the first day not knowing what to expect and got surprised with the very long queue in front of the resto, so we went elsewhere for dinner. Then after reading some comments, I realized it's possible to book beforehand, especially since we were a big group of 14. So I booked for the next day.

I'll be as thorough as I can to help other travellers here.

The resto opens at 11:30-14:00 and 17:30-20:00.

Really recommend you to book before to avoid long queue. Please be respectful and come before your alloted reservation.

There were two seating area. One was where everybody queue up and one hidden at the back, mainly for bigger group (only large table of 10 and above that's available). We were seated here and all 14 of us are on 1 table. A bit cramped but still acceptable. The aircon above was blowing on some of our heads and that was somewhat uncomfortable.

Order process was straight forward. I attached the menus and food photos. Price was quite steep in my opinion. There are 10% service charge and 6% tax in addition to the listed price on the menu.

Now on to the food (all large size or custom large size): Home recipe double roasted pork with Chili Padi (RM42++) This is definitely not spicy at all, so don't worry about the word Chili there. Tasted sweet. This was the one that everyone seems to get when they eat here.

Stir-fried aubergine/eggplant with fermented bean sauce, minced pork, and dried shrimp (RM28++) Since I like eggplant, this menu was just perfect. Very tasty, sweet as well. Eggplant was soft too.

Sweet & sour pork (RM42++) Ordered this cause of other reviewer and I was glad I did. This was one of the highlights for me. Pork was still crispy and the sweet and sour just complemented it perfectly.

Boneless pork ribs with home recipe barbeque sauce (RM42++) Recommended by the waiter. It was okay, but nothing to write home about. Typical bbq sweet dish. Pork ribs was tender. Some side bones still present though not much.

Assam tumis curry stingray (RM120++) The stingray was soft and meaty, so that was good. The assam cuurry was okay, resembled more toward Tom Yum rather than Assam dish.

Signature Tofu (possibly Stir fried homemade tofu with various cutlet in claypot) (RM56++) Not sure of the name for this one cause we only said we wanted tofu and the waiter selected for us. It was okay, nothing to write home about.

Tou Miao (possibly called Stir-fried ... with garlic in the menu) (RM26++) It's regular stir-fried vegie.

Stir-fried prawn with tamarind sauce (RM235++ for 20 pcs of large prawns) Very tasty. One of the must have when you come to this resto. The assam taste was very prominent. Wished there were more of the sauce so that I could dab the prawns with the assam sauce after unshelling them.

Overall would recommend this resto to try out something new beside the regular...

i wanted to discover first hand what all the hype was about so we decided to arrive before 6pm for the dinner session. Well, true enough within the first 5 minutes or so, all the table within the restaurant were all taken. Within the next 15 minutes crowd and queues will beging to form outside the restaurant and a steady flow of people will begin to arrive to add on to the queue.

Ordered altogether 6 of their recommended signature dishes and here is my very honest personal review.

1. The spicy roasted pork which is quite a popular dish was good but not fantastic. Too sweet in my opinion and almost a clump of roasted pork coated in malt sugar.

2. The Special Tofu with Shrimp was run of the mill of the lot and was not even flavourful to begin with. Many other Zhi Zar stalls I have tried prepare a better variation of this dish and more flavourful.

3. Then there is their special signature deep fried chicken in Plum Sauce which was way below par in taste and also preparation.

4. Stir Fried Prawn with Tamarind Sauce was mild in taste and even in Tamarind. Quite many Zhi Zar restaurant prepare better prawns in this manner with a better wok hei on the finalized shrimp.

5. Salted Fish Pork Belly in claypot was actually the biggest dissapointment. The overall blend of salted fish and sauce is really nothing to shout about at all.

6. The best dish I would say was the potato leave with sambal of the lot we ordered and this dish was good and well cooked, tasted good and had a nice texture to it.

Conclusion : Way overated restaurant glorified by youtubers reviewers and social media. Food is just at the most slightly above average and the queues and hype totally not justified. As there are tons of reviews saying how fantastic and to die for the dishes are on the internet, you may think my review is unfair, so please do try for yourself as all views are solely my own and the friends i visited the restaurant...

To me, for a repeat visit, I would book first. Failing which, if the Q was less than 30min. 30-45 a toss up, more than 45 min, maybe next time. For a repeat visit. First visits are harder to define.

They are organized quite well otherwise and you can peruse their menu while Q and give your order at the head of the Q to ensure your food comes faster. Their food, I would probably describe as traditional home cooking. None of those fusion modern concoctions. Therefore, it has its nostalgic appeal. Just expect a home style plating and don't presume to get one of those IG type visually beautiful plated dishes.

But to be honest I loved their simple uncomplicated flavouring that reminds you of home cooking of yesteryears. Filling, delicious, feel good yumminess.

You must order their stingray. The meat of their stingray is uncharacteristically tender and soft without the toughness I usually get in other restaurants. The curry for the stingray bathes and flavours it perfectly. The prawn is fresh, sweet and deliciously coated with sour tamarind for a perfect kick to the palate while the tofu is soft in a sea of light refreshing gravy.

The kangkung with belacan provided a much needed salty spicy pungent contrast to the other dishes and the squid was nicely chewy with a good peppery after taste to enjoy in between your bites.

The chicken was good but average while I found the pork too salty. Perfectly oily but due to the overwhelming salt can't be enjoyed by itself. This really needs rice to temper the taste. I would've loved it to be less drowning in salt.

I fully recommend this place if you are ever craving a Chinese simple home cook dish experience but be sure to make a reservation in advance. However the price is a bit atas so...