Tek Sen Restaurant
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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 hawkers food.
Hendra ChristianHendra Christian
10
Late post of a dinner in Penang from last week. Definitely an “oldie but not mouldie”. Dinner with a buddy at Tek Sen Restaurant. They have been in operation since 1965! Excellent dishes. Everyone of them hit the spot. The Assam Pedas Bawal Hitam (Black Pomfret in Spicy Tamarind sauce) - An excellent rendition. Complex taste from good use of spice and tamarind plus the right amount of heat from the chili paste. No one flavour overwhelmed any other. All in perfect harmony. A strong 9/10. “Mui Choy Kau Yoke” (Stewed Pork Belly with preserved Chinese Cabbage) - this dish almost brought tears to my eyes. Not just because it was delicious but the taste was exactly as my late mum used to make (although mum preferred to cook this dish with small bite sized pork rather than the larger sliced stewed pork belly that most restaurants use). Super tasty - 9/10… for bringing back childhood memories… a bonus 1/2 pt so a 9.5 out of 10 for me. ❤️❤️❤️ The veg was a simple sweet potato leaf stir fried with garlic. Simple but once again very well executed and yummy. 8/10 Overall, I’d say an 8.5 or 9 out of 10 dining experience. Been a long while since I enjoyed my dinner as much as this. Update on a return visit. Some additional dishes tried include the caramelised double roasted pork stir fried with birds eye chili. Excellent. An 8.5/10 French beans stir fried with minced pork and dried shrimp. Good, a 7/10 3 cup chicken. Another outstanding dish. An 8.5 or 9/10. The house specialty taufoo was again good but not great. Another 7/10. @whiskydev
Whisky DevWhisky Dev
10
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 with. Enjoy!!
Derek “VideoCobra ดิเรก” YeoDerek “VideoCobra ดิเรก” Yeo
00
[holiao] 1) overall - clean environment, spacious seating area, expect queue during peak hours, limited parking, reasonable price, Chinese food offered by Tek Sen Restaurant 2) Double roasted pork tasted so good, the pork was caramelised with all the sweetness and it was good to pair with many bowls of rice :P 3) Buddha's delight aka lo hai jai tasted above average, the smell and the taste of the fermented bean curd used for cooking was top, portion was just alright for the table of 10 4) assam tumis (curry) grouper fish fillet was again so good, not as spicy as it looked, the fish fillet was very fresh, hence, the broth was equipped with the fishes sweetness 5) braised pork belly with preserved vegetable was alright 6) fried bittergourd with egg was special, the runny eggs with not-so-flavorable bittergourd was surprisingly welcomed by the kids as the bitterness of the bittergourd was completely washed off by the cooking skills. marvelous 7) deep fried homemade tofu with light soy sauce and local dried anchovy topping was my favourtie. superb taste, must order! crispy tofu skin, but so soft from the inside. the mixture of crispiness of anchovy and softest tofu in your mouth with lightly salted soy sauce was not jokingly good. 8) yang zhou fried rice - full with flavour and wok hei, fragrant rice with good combo of mixed vege and meat 9) stir fry french bean with minced meat and dried prawn - a little salty to out liking, still can taste the crunch of the french bean, good mixture of fat and lean minced pork 10) steamed teow chew fish - average taste.
simone food.channelsimone food.channel
30
Need to make reservation prior coming. Long queue if walk in. Paid car park available in walking distance. Environment still OK. Service also OK. Reached there around 12pm. Waited for 30min. 4 dishes served in same timing. Still acceptable as it's quite crowded. Ordered double roasted pork chilli padi, belacan chicken, signature tofu and bitter ground with egg. Portion as shown in the photos. 6 pcs of chicken, 3 small pcs of tofu. Rice portion also small, like kid's portion. Roasted pork chilli padi is too sweet. Texture OK. Would be better if the pork skin slightly crispy. Rating 3.8/5 Belacan chicken is not bad, juicy and tender. Can try. Rating 4.2/5 Signature tofu, lack of seasoning, nothing special. Portion small. Rating 2.8/5 Bitter ground egg, the egg is overcook externally. Suspecting it was cooked in rush with high temperature. Egg is not fragrance enough. Rating 3/5 For me it's overpriced with the portion and food quality given. Not hitting my expectation as MICHELIN Bib Gourmand. For portion, 2 ppl can finish 4 M size (M is the smallest portion) dishes as shown in the photo. Rice portion is a bit small which costs RM1.80..we need to top up 1 bowl of rice to reach normal rice portion. Pork and chicken dishes both same price RM25, price not really compatible with the portion. Total price include service tax RM94.65. Overall we are quite disappointed with the food quality. Expecting something "wow", unfortunately not reaching that level. Not with the price given. My honest review.
Ivy YapIvy Yap
10
Wow, just wow. Came here due to the reviews, the awards (Michelin) and recommendations from friends who are locals here and I must say I was blown away. Came to the restaurant early at about 540 pm and queues were already forming, it didn’t look that bad but we waited for an hour for a 7 pax table before we got to our seats, however before that we were given menus and could decide slowly on what to order. As there were different sizes for the dishes, we were fussing about how much to order for 7 pax. I must say the Indian staff at the front desk who could speak the hokkien dialect was amazing, he said he would choose the sizes of each dish for us, depending on how many dishes we ordered too. ( it was amazing, as we finished everything and felt that the portions he estimated for us were spot on) When we finally got to our table, the dishes were served very quickly, I must say they are very organized and efficient, and we did not have to wait for another long period for the food to be cooked. We ordered the recommendations and the hot favorites from the reviews like the pork and aubergine, and I must say EVERY DISH HIT THE MARK. Even the omelette which was basic zhi char was good. Now I understood why the many reviews on google said it was worth the wait and queue because this place is simply sensational. Now every time when I visit Penang I would definitely arrange a night for this place. Oh and did I mention the value for money and affordability? Simply wonderful.
Cedric SeetCedric Seet
00
Nearby Attractions Of Tek Sen Restaurant
Penang Little India
Esplanade
Georgetown UNESCO Historic Site
Penang Street Art
1st Avenue Mall
Chew Jetty
Chowrasta Market
Upside Down Museum
Pinang Peranakan Mansion
Wonder Food Museum
Penang Little India
4.3
(6.3K)Click for details
Esplanade
4.3
(6.3K)Click for details
Georgetown UNESCO Historic Site
4.4
(5.4K)Click for details
Penang Street Art
4.4
(4.3K)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of Tek Sen Restaurant
Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul
Halab Penang Arabic Restaurant
Hameediyah Restaurant
ChinaHouse
Tai Tong Restaurant
PINWHEEL RESTO CAFE
Restoran Kapitan (Chulia Street)
Restoran Nasi Kandar Line Clear
Loong Fong Cafe 龍鳳茶室
Reggae Cafe Penang
Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul
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Halab Penang Arabic Restaurant
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Hameediyah Restaurant
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ChinaHouse
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Address
18, Lebuh Carnarvon, George Town, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
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4.5
(1.8K reviews)
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attractions: Penang Little India, Esplanade, Georgetown UNESCO Historic Site, Penang Street Art, 1st Avenue Mall, Chew Jetty, Chowrasta Market, Upside Down Museum, Pinang Peranakan Mansion, Wonder Food Museum, restaurants: Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul, Halab Penang Arabic Restaurant, Hameediyah Restaurant, ChinaHouse, Tai Tong Restaurant, PINWHEEL RESTO CAFE, Restoran Kapitan (Chulia Street), Restoran Nasi Kandar Line Clear, Loong Fong Cafe 龍鳳茶室, Reggae Cafe Penang
