Thanks to buddy Chef Wayne, he showed me Restoran Double Joy 新雙喜, his family's long time favourite zhi char (tai chao in KL speak) restaurant in Section 3 of Petaling Jaya near Kuala Lumpur.
Restoran Double Joy is one of Petaling Jaya's best kept foodie secrets. Most of Double Joy's customers are local residents, often from three generations. Section 3 is the oldest and original township of Petaling Jaya, now a sprawling much sought after suburb of Kuala Lumpur.
Chef owner Alex has been a chef for over 40 years and ran Double Joy for over 30. Jovial Alex said he serves homely, family oriented dishes. Most of his customers come in in family groups, many multi-generations.
Sous Chef Ah Cheong has been with Double Joy for nearly 20 years. So, at Double Joy, the quality of dishes served is consistent.
There is no menu card. Just the names of some of the dishes written on a little white board. There are many more dishes and Chef Alex regularly comes up with new ones. If you are here for the first time, get help from the lady boss who manages the front office 😄
Chef Alex's overall approach to dishes is gam (matches) my personal preference. The add on flavours are mild - just enough to add variety and accent the natural taste of the fresh ingredients, be it meat, poultry, fish or vegetables.
三色椒炒豬肉 Tri-colour Peppers with Fried Pork.
Green, gold and red colour peppers fried with lean pork slices. This was our first dish and it set the tone of the dishes that follow. The chili peppers were crunchy and I can taste their natural sweetness in the juices. The lean pork slices were tender and had the natural sweetness of fresh pork.
南乳花肉 Fried Pork Belly Slices Marinated with Fermented Red Bean Curd (Nam Yue).
Chef Alex's interpretation of the Hakka favourite - instead of cubes of pork belly, Alex uses thin slices with fat and lean layers. Nice golden brown crisp outside and tender juicy inside even though these were thin slices. Mild savoury flavours from the fermented red bean curd seasoning.
胡椒滷豬腳 Pepper Braised Trotter.
Chef Alex added black and white pepper into the usual soy based braising stock to braise the pork trotter. It's a nice change - a very slight peppery note to the usual savoury sweet dish. The natural porky sweetness was still there in the soft, tender juicy meat, fat and skin.
Nice.
招牌雙喜炸雞 Double Joy Signature Fried Chicken.
Simple crispy, juicy fried chicken marinated with soy sauce, salt and pepper. Tossed with stir fried onion, chili pepper and green onion before serving.
Yummey.
家鄉蒸非洲 Steamed Tilapia.
Live Tilapia fish steamed with soy sauce, aromatic oil and dressed with ginger mash, chopped preserved turnip, spring onion.
Chef Alex prepared this dish well. There was no earthly taste at all - only natural sweetness in its tender juicy, clean tasting flesh. The blend of gentle savoury sweetness from the sauce and preserved turnip come with a delicate spiciness from the fresh ginger mash.
This was my favourite dish this evening.
木薯滷花肉.
This dish is unique to Double Joy. It's pork belly slices braised with soy sauce and tapioca. Yes, tapioca instead of the usual yam.
Mildly savoury soy sauce based braising stock and natural sweetness from the pork belly. The savoury sweetness is absorbed in the tapioca slices which have its own subtle sweetness. A nice change from the usual yam which has more assertive flavour and is more starchy.
Like many great dishes and other good things, this braised pork belly with tapioca is created by accident 😄 Five years ago, Double Joy ran out of yam to make braised pork belly. So, Chef Alex made do and improvised with tapioca. Well, it turned out delicious and an instant hit with customers.
It's been on Double Joy's menu ever since.
Crunchy juicy Kang Kong greens simply stir fried with fish sauce, chili, garlic, onion. Perfectly executed. Nice.
👉 Double Joy 新雙喜 is an excellent, humble little place to enjoy homely dishes with quality fresh ingredients. Expertly done with mild flavourings, so we can taste the ingredients' fresh natural sweetness. I love to be back to try Chef Alex's other dishes. Double Joy's loyal following have kept this 30 year old joint their sweet little secret for far too long 😄
Disclosure: Thank you Chef Alex for your hospitality.
Restaurant name: Double Joy 新雙喜
Address: 27, Jalan SS 3/37, Taman Universiti, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
GPS: 3°05'50.6"N 101°36'47.9"E | 3.097378, 101.613314
Tel: +60 12-673 1889
Hours: 11:00am - 2:30pm | 5:30pm - 10:30pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 1 Aug 2017
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