Dee Xiang Kopitiam 娣香盐焗鸡 — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

If you're a fan of salt baked chicken, you'd most likely buy back from pasar malam or Ipoh Aun Kheng Lim to enjoy at home.

Not many people know that there's an established salt baked chicken restaurant in Jinjang by the name of Restoran Happy which has been operating since 1998.

And Mr Liew, the owner cum chef has opened a cosy restaurant in PJ Section 14 (Digital Mall area) serving the same dishes as his restaurant in Jinjang but in an air-conditioned, clean and cosy environment.

So, folks in this part of town can get to enjoy Restoran Happy's signature dishes in cool comfort without having to drive all the way to Jinjang.

Mr Liew being a Hakka, serves the usual Hakka favourites like vinegar pork trotter, fried pork belly, braised pork belly, ginger duck, Hakka noodle, etc, besides the top seller salt baked chicken.

Dee Xiang is looked after by his second son and started operating less than two years ago.

It was my first ever visit and I ordered the lunch set (11am-2pm) consisting of salt baked quarter chicken, taugeh, soup and rice (RM20). Good-sized quarter chicken was well-cooked, tender and tasty, not over salted. Some may prefer it to be a little more salty but it was equally fine with me. Taugeh although not sourced from Ipoh, was still crunchy.

A good place to bring friends who'd like to enjoy salt baked chicken and other Hakka favourite dishes in a spick and span ambience.

Refer to my menu photos for other dishes served.

Good lunch crowd during my visit but I didn't have to queue for a table.

The area may be infamous for parking difficulty but there's actually a MBPJ multilevel car park behind the shops to avoid headaches.

Business Hours: 11am-9pm (closed on Mondays)

Toilet Score: Good

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Section 14 is one of few areas in PJ which I would avoid if possible, the reason being congested and parking is a biatch! However there was one Kopitiam I've been meaning to try for sometime. After circling for 2-3 times, I'd finally found a spot. "The food has got to be good" I thought to myself.

Spotting a modern traditional settings with old school tiles, marble tables with marble + wooden chairs, it looked promising or so I thought.

◾Dee Xiang Set Lunch comprised of 1) salt-baked while chicken leg; 2) stir fried bean sprouts; 3) soup and 4) rice. Quite a steal for RM19 but only from 11am-2pm even on weekends. The chicken meat had fall-off-the-bone texture but that was it. Apart from that, it lacked the herbal taste and a tad too salty to my liking... Rather one dimensional. Too bad as the star dish should have shone brightly. In fact the Hakka noodle was a letdown too as it was too soft and it didn't taste anything resembling Hakka noodle (I'm a Hakka). ◾Hakka Braised Pork Belly with Black Fungus RM18 was good but lacking in depth. ◾Cham si kosong saved the otherwise disappointing lunch.

Coming from the famous salted baked chicken place in Jinjang, I certainly have high expectations on the chicken but from my experience they've to...

The experience at this restaurant was disappointing due to the poor service. Despite arriving before several other customers, we watched as they received their food well before us. The wait time was far too long, and the service only became more frustrating as the evening went on.

When our first dish was finally served, it took an unreasonably long time for the white rice to arrive. By the time the rice was served, the fish had already started to cool down, which really affected our enjoyment of the meal.

To add to the disappointment, when our vegetable dish was brought out, it was the wrong type—ironically, the same vegetable that was given to a customer who arrived after us. When we pointed out the mistake, we were informed that the vegetable we originally ordered was out of stock. It was frustrating to wait so long only to receive something we didn’t even want.

While the food had potential, the slow, disorganized service and lack of communication from the staff made it difficult to appreciate. I hope the management takes these issues seriously, as the current level of service makes it hard to recommend...