I am not familiar with Seremban at all.
Thus we were deeply indebted to the local Seremban boy Kevin for his time and effort in planning our makan itinerary.
We started out with a heavy breakfast at the Seremban market and got ourselves stuffed silly. All the delicious food will be posted here soon so don’t fret!
Meanwhile these 4 dai chow (chinese style, cook upon order, eat-with-rice and dishes, family sit-down dinner) for our dinner in Seremban are the ones that I’ve tried so far.
I must say my vote goes to Regent Restaurant, Weng Keong and Huang Soon, which was recommended by Kevin himself.
TC Keong was a curiosity as I read online that it was good. It turned out to be a disappointment. I’ll go into details below so read on!
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The Seremban boy favours Weng Keong over Huang Soon. For us we enjoyed the food at both just as much.
The prices took us by surprise and the portions and taste had us gleefully planning our next excursion immediately.
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Restaurant/Dai Chow No. 1: Restaurant Weng Keong
Weng Keong was smaller and in an natural way, more intimate.
The one dish you absolutely have to order here is the sweet and sour pork. I have yet to find one that I enjoy (in Ipoh, KL, Penang) as much as this one in Weng Keong.
The thin, crunchy batter coat large – mid sized chunks of tender meat. It was a good balance between sweet and sour and thin and thick consistency for the gravy.
Even when cooled down, the gravy remained fluid, unlike some versions that I’ve had that which tends to transform into a gummy pool of tomato sauce.
Look – thick, tender meat, not just batter!
This is seriously good stuff.
Weng Keong makes their own egg beancurd so of course we had to try them. Kevin’s parents shared theirs (in gravy with mushrooms and greens ) while we ordered another version cooked with egg starch gravy plus seafood, meat and vegetables.
I need more meat so stir fried venison with ginger, spring onions and oyster sauce was next.
Last but not least, a plate of fried rice as recommended by Kevin.
Total Damage: RM46.60. GST 6% applies, no service charge.
Pork – RM 12
Venison – RM 15
Rice – RM 6
Egg Tofu – RM 10
Verdict:
Every dish was excellent.
Ingredients are fresh, dishes are not overly greasy or salty, meats are tender and portions fair for the price. The fried rice was wonderfully smoky, non-greasy and tasty.
We ordered the “small” size for all.
Other recommended dishes are omelette with fake sharkfin, yam basket, pork ribs, garoupa fish slices and butter prawns.
Service is friendly, the wait staff are locals and speaks English. There is no English menu and a wall with Chinese writings is the menu!
We wiped out the plate. Not a drop of gravy was wasted. 😀
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Restaurant/Dai Chow No. 2: Restaurant Huang Soon.
Judging from the crowd, Huang Soon is as popular for steamboat as they are for dai chow. They offer 2 form of soup base; tomyam or plain pork stock.
But we were not there for the steamboat though I did sneaked a few peeks at the tables around us and saw the standard fishballs, noodles, egg, vegetables and meat.
Focused on their dai chow repertoire, we got down to business once seated.
Since Kevin recommended the Marmite Chicken, that was our first order.
As we converse further with a girl named Mei, a most obliging and helpful staff, we started to make decision based on our stomach.
She gave delicious description to the Pork Ribs with Peanuts and Wild Boar Curry. Now you don’t get wild boar in every tai chow or restaurant so when the opportunity presents itself, take it.
For comparison sake, we added a sweet sour pork and fried rice, the same dishes we sampled at Weng Keong’s.
Throwing caution to the wind, we nodded when Mei went on to say that their Steamed Egg Tofu is their signature, hence a must-try.
Verdict:
The sweet and sour pork wasn’t too shabby. The gravy was nice, though starchier. Meat were chunky though it wasn’t as crispy as Weng Keong’s.
The marmite chicken was done 2 ways so this is a good order since you get 2 preparations of fowl for one price. Personally we found the marmite pieces too sweet and the mayo portion too cloying.
Our vote goes to the braised pork ribs with peanuts, the sweet and sour pork and the aromatic, rich wild boar curry.
The ribs were meaty and tender, the gravy tasty and the portion generous. We dug through the whole pot and every rib had a thick layer of meat.
Just as tasty was the soft wild boar meat richly flavoured with the thick curry. This is a dish that calls for rice; bowls of steamy, white rice!
We however, had fried rice since we wanted to compare with Weng Keong’s version.
Huang Soon’s fried rice was good as well, though for us Weng Keong’s won for its fragrance and simplicity. Here, the grains had a heavier flavour (to some that might translate to a tastier dish) due to seasonings used.
Drinks: Coconut, water and sour plum. Total – RM8.40.
Total Damage: RM79.90. GST 6%, no service charge.
Sweet Sour Pork – RM 10
Wild boar in Indian curry – RM 12
Fried Rice – RM 6
Steamed Homemade Egg Tofu – RM 10
Pork Ribs with Peanuts – RM 18
Marmite chicken – RM 15
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Restaurant/Dai Chow No. 3: Restoran Regent.
Regent is your Tai Thong/Oriental equivalent restaurant banquet seating restaurant in Seremban. Their sweet and sour pork is excellent; crispy yet with a thin coat of batter barely discernible.
I devoured 70% of the dish and found that 3 out of 5 pieces are a good balance of meat and fat while the 2 other pieces are lean cuts.
I didn’t encounter any solely-fat piece, unlike most of our Klang Valley version which is almost double the price, half the portion and 70% fat!
Tofu is eggy and the dish was loaded with so much ingredients that it could be a main dish on its own. For RM10 (no service charge) this is a steal with squids, 3 prawns, generous amount of pork fillets plus carrots, corn, button mushroom and gourd.
Sweet and sour pork:
The sweet and sour pork was slightly a notch up from Weng Keong, and turns out to be my favourite so far. The tomato essence is strong with a good consistency and even when the dish cooled, the gravy was still runny and non-starchy.
I would recommend the roast pork as well. The meat was superbly tender and the skin golden and crisp.
It is neither too lean or fatty but with fair amount of fat attached for a juicy chew.
The char siew turned out to be a surprise it wasn’t the standard strips of char siew. Instead they seem to be fattier cuts of roast pork (siew yok) in char siew. I found it too sweet for my liking.
Sing Kong Beancurd.
This is supposedly their signature. As described above, we enjoyed this.
The fried rice as pretty ordinary. Weng Keong certainly dish out a better version.
The Regent menu as below.
I find the prices reasonable for the ambience (air-conditioned dining), service, quality of ingredients used as well as for the skills shown in the food preparations.
Total Damage: RM73.65 = RM65.00 for food. Additional RM4.50 for a tall watermelon drink. GST 6%, no service charge.
Sweet Sour Pork – RM 15
Sing Kong Beancurd : RM10
Charsiew/Siew Yok platter – RM30
Fried Rice – RM10.
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Restaurant/Dai Chow No. 4: TC Keong Restaurant.
What we had:
Sweet and sour pork (a must in every dai chow meal!), their signature Thai tofu, Steamed spare ribs and fried rice.
Overall the food here is a disappointment. I suspect that we were just spoiled after we have tasted what Regent, Weng Keong and Huang Soon had to offer.
No doubt the food here is cheap but portions and taste-wise, I wouldn’t personally vouch for this restaurant.
The spare ribs as you see below was more bones and gravy than meat. Their signature Thai seafood tofu is nice if you like your tofu with added ingredients (chilli, crunchy waterchestnuts, etc ) but frankly we couldn’t detect any seafood.
The fried rice had added lap cheong (waxed sausages) which was a nice inclusion though it still bordered on bland. Technique wise it is commendable since it did boast of a bit of wok-hei and overall, it wasn’t overly greasy.
We did however, enjoyed the sweet and sour pork. The inclusion of pineapples here imparted a nice tangy sweetness to the tomato gravy.
Meat is on the lean side, batter is thin and had a slight crispy crust when it was served.
I would vote this as my 3rd choice after Regent and Weng Keong. It is quite good!
Total Damage: RM40.40. GST 6%, no service charge.
Sweet Sour Pork – RM 10
Spare ribs – RM10
Seafood Tofu: RM6
Fried rice : RM6
Iced tea : RM0.50 per pax
Tissue: RM0.30 per piece.
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Address:
1. Restaurant Weng Keong
Address: Jalan RJ 6/8, Rasah Jaya, 70300, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, 70300, Malaysia.
Waze for: KFC Rasah Jaya. Weng Keong is on the same row, about 4 shoplots to the left.
Hours: 5pm – 10 pm.
Price: Dependent on portion size (S, M, L). However, expect to pay between RM50 – 70 for a rice, a meat, a fish and a plate of greens (based on S portion).
Tel: For reservations a minimum table of ten is required. Otherwise they only accept walk-ins.
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2. Restaurant Huang Soon
Address: No. 3000, Taman Punca Emas, Jalan Tok Ungku, 70100 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.
Waze for: Call for directions.
Hours: 3.30 pm – 11:45 pm. Open daily.
Price: Dependent on portion size (S, M, L). However, expect to pay between RM50 – 70 for a rice, a meat, a fish and a plate of greens (based on S portion).
Tel: 012 – 2353320
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3. Restoran Regent
Address: 2390 – 2395, Tmn Labu Utama, Jalan Sg Ujong, 70200 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.
Waze for: “Regent Restaurant” .
Hours: 3.30 pm – 11:45 pm. Open daily.
Price: Dependent on portion size (S, M, L). However, expect to pay between RM50 – 70 for a rice, a meat, a fish and a plate of greens (based on S portion).
Tel: TBU
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4. Restaurant TC Keong
Address: Jalan Sri Rahang 1, Taman Sri Rahang, 70100 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.
Waze for: “TC Keong Restaurant”
Hours: 3.30 pm – 11:45 pm. Open daily.
Price: Dependent on portion size (S, M, L). However, expect to pay between RM50 – 70 for a rice, a meat, a fish and a plate of greens (based on S portion).
Tel: 012 – 611 8286
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PS:
If you wondering why the famous crabs (everyone seems to head to Seremban for crabs!) were omitted in our dinners, well, it is intentional.
For one, none of us are fans. Besides, for the same price of 1-2 crabs (RM80 or so), we could have a meal with 2 meat dishes, fish and vegetables for 3 pax.
Hence for the seafood/crabs dinners it will be in future postings, since we are already planning our next trip, this time with crustacean lovers in tow.
PPS: Since I’m from KL, I’ll appreciate if anyone could recommend a decent hotel/AirBnb/homestay/etc in Seremban? 🙂
i’ve done a few very quick stop-overs in seremban but never stayed overnight or really explored the areas … it’s nice to have a few articles online to guide us where to go … in this case, for tai chows 😀 p.s. actually i’ve never liked marmite anything 🙂
High five for dislike of Marmite – lol!
Gosh the chinese really make it become sugar coated chicken/pork.
Ok, stay tuned for my Seremban guide Sean!! I got more to share! Hehehhe 😀
I have a better choice of dai chao beside this 4 , but anyway taste r different from peoples
Well, I do not know Seremban well. So if you have anymore to share, that would be much appreciated 🙂
It is at least, compared to KL, much better in terms of taste, portion & value!
Hi, if you’re planning to stay overnight can recommend Palm Mall Hotel near Kemayan Square or Royal Bintang near Lake Garden, but obviously Royal Bintang is more higher priced.. Palm Mall Hotel to my surprise is a very decent hotel with nice interiors for their rooms.. There’s another one called Time Hotel near town and S2 Hotel which is near Jusco S2..
Thanks Aaron!! Appreciate that very much. Will be in seremban soon, got some restaurants to check out 🙂
Eyeing Hotel Hotel Sun Lun Yik 🙂
I’m Seremban local, actually sban have quite a number of good restaurant compare to kl, as you know in small town those who survived means not that bad.
But for most local their favourite restaurant is different, not only based on taste, but also conveniency of the restaurant location. Beside regent and Tc Keong I have not tried the other two that you recommended. Maybe I should try them out.
Not sure what disappointment you means when talking about tc Keong restaurant, for me its a place that I used to visit with my family, cheap and delicious food. Maybe can’t compete with taithong but what you pay is worth for the food. One of their signature dish is the steam fish.
Hi Jen!
Oh yes, totally agree on the small town & thus biz survival has to be more competitive.
For TC, I didn’t order the fish so perhaps that would have been better.
Overall, the prices fr the 4 restaurants listed are almost similar (except for Regent), but i find the other 3 tastier (or more accurately, suited to my tastebuds) – sweet sour pork, fried rice, overall flavours (salty, greasiness, portion, service )
Hey Becks,
When will you be heading over to Seremban next? Do let me know. There are a few stall’s open at night near Haji Shariff Cendol. One stall in particular, serves Mee Soup. And they’re really good. Does not exceed RM10. It’s an open space, so just enjoy the night and the good food I assume. My number’s under the website comment, do let me know when you’re around. We shall go food hunting 🙂
Hi…if you’r looking for homestay, you may try look for fullhouse homestay in Seremban.
Below is their page, you may check tis out..
https://www.facebook.com/homestayatseremban/
It is pretty owesome themed homestay…
TQ Chantal! I’ll check it out as I’m heading there too soon!