Paper Baked Chicken at Tan Village Restaurant in Taman Desa Cemerlang, Ulu Tiram, Johor

I stumbled upon Tan Village while food spotting in Taman Desa Cemerlang. As I am a fan of paper (parchment) baked chicken, I was attracted to the big posters on the wall displaying various flavours of paper baked chicken.

We ordered a simple meal of half an "original flavour" 原味 paper baked chicken, a plate of bitter gourd fried with salted egg yolks and a mutton herbal soup.



I like the mild flavours and aroma of Tan Village's "original flavour" paper baked chicken (RM12 for half a bird).



The chicken flesh was tender yet firm, moist and sweet. Though tender, the flesh had a little spring and needed a bit of pulling and tucking to pull away the last fibres. I love it.



I also love this bitter gourd fried with salted egg yolks. Refreshing, crunchy, with savoury notes from the dried shrimps and salted egg yolks. This nice side dish cost RM6.



The soup costing RM10 was full bodied, smooth, savoury and herbal. Highly drinkable. The thick slices of radish were tasty and squishy. The mutton was firm, not hard, but it was not tender enough for my liking. The soup was neither oily nor gamey. Nice soup, especially for people who don't eat the boiled meat in herbal soups. Since I eat everything in the bowl, I prefer the mutton softer.



While chatting with the (camera shy) boss Ah Seng, he told me that the shop was originally intended as a kitchen to produce these frozen packs of paper baked chicken. Ah Seng's family runs a "kampung chicken" farm in Pekan Nanas and this shop produces paper baked chicken for pasar malam (night market) and food centre hawkers, and restaurants.

As there was excess space at the front, Ah Seng said they decided to serve walk in diners as well. They also added a few side dishes to make the menu more appealing. Ah Seng's wife just whips up the side dishes in the kitchen, when there is an order. No wonder the fried bitter gourd has that distinct home cooked feel that I like.



I liked the paper baked chicken here so much that I bought a frozen pack of Tan Village's herbal chicken to try at home. This take away bird cost RM16. Very reasonable, in my opinion.

Rating: 1-Star



Restaurant name: Tan Village Restaurant
Address: 7, Jalan Tanjung 1, Taman Desa Cemerlang, Ulu Tiram, Johor
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/UPAGm
GPS: 1.561603,103.807572
Hours: 10:00am to 9:00pm (closed on Weds)
Non Halal

Date visited: 28 Feb 2013