Had dinner recently with the fam at this cozy spot in Bandar Puteri Puchong, where you can mix and match different Chinese dishes to pair with rice or porridge. The menu covers dishes from different regions, including Sichuan and Cantonese, but leans more towards Taiwanese-Hokkien and Hakka cuisine. Everything tastes homemade and since they’re made to order, you get fresh, hot food to your table. Pretty good stuff!

The shop has a simple, tasteful interior in cool, calming grey. The feature wall features a mix of Chinese paraphernalia, including brick toys with traditional scenes (including one of a brothel!), Chinese wine jars, scrolls, bowls, and packages wrapped in brown paper, the kind you usually see apothecaries use for wrapping up medicine in Chinese period dramas.

The dishes are categorised into A & B; A being lighter dishes such as omelette, tofu, and preserved vegetables with pork; and B featuring heavier mains such as bak kut teh, nam yu pork, butter chicken, chicken chop with cheese, and more.

Two light dishes will cost you RM14.90, while an A&B meal will set you back RM18.90. Two B dishes are priced at RM22.90. All set meals come with rice and side dishes of braised peanuts and crunchy crackers.

The ‘specialty’ section, which only has a couple of items, caught my eye, and I decided to order the Sichuan-style Spicy Sliced Pork with Garlic (RM13.90) instead of the set meal, adding a bowl of rice to go with it. The thin pork belly slices were served cold, topped with lots of garlic and a liberal amount of chili oil.

It was not fiery spicy, but had just the right amount of kick. The pork had an interesting texture; while the lean part was soft, the fat part was almost crunchy, which surprised me as I was expecting something chewy. The chili oil had a sweet, savoury taste that served as a good rice puller – but at the end of the day the pork’s portion was pretty small, so I filched bits from the rest of the fam’s dishes to help me finish my bowl.

The Hubs paired two A dishes, including as stir-fried pork dish with strips of a root vegetable that tasted like jicama, and deep fried wontons. I liked the wontons, as they were sizable, crispy on the outside, and juicy and flavourful on the inside.

Moomins had the same stir-fried pork dish, and the signature tofu, which is an egg tofu that is deep fried on the outside but has a silky texture within, bathed in a savoury gravy.

Pops had a simple steamed tofu topped with scallions, paired with Gong Po chicken.

Last but not least, the Bro also went with signature tofu, but paired with deep fried nam yu pork, which has been marinated in a fermented beancurd sauce. The pork looked hard, but they were actually quite soft and moist, and the distinctive flavour of nam yu had permeated throughout the meat, giving it a deep, umami taste.

Overall, I felt like everything was wonderfully done, and tasted like simple but good home-cooked food. The drinks aren’t worth it though, as I ordered a lychee (RM6.50) and it was almost bland because there was so much ice in it.

Our meal for five came up to RM107. Quite steep imo, but considering the taste, quality, and service, I wouldn’t mind coming here for a weekend dinner with the fam.

WONDER CHEF

21-G, Jalan Puteri 4/1, Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong, Selangor

Opening hours: 11AM – 9PM (Daily)

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