The Home Cooking Dishes in PJ is located in a corner house in Sungai Way just a stone’s throw from the Indian temple and bak kut teh shop in the area. Parking can be an issue so you’ll need to come early or park slightly further and walk to the restaurant.
Persevere, and you’ll be rewarded with a sumptuous home-style dishes – I ordered the steamed kampung chicken, char siew, siew yuk, claypot kangkung and braised tofu. Service is fairly quick but during peak hours, The Home Cooking Dishes gets pretty crowded so you might have to wait a little for your food to arrive.
The steamed kampung chicken is quite good here. Served with ginger and chilli dipping sauce, I like that the ginger sauce packs a good kick so it really brings out the flavour of the chicken. It may not be the best steamed chicken I’ve eaten but it’s one of the better ones around.
Char siew and siew yuk are available on weekends – we ordered a portion of each to try. I didn’t care much for the siew yuk, which I found pretty average but the chili dipping sauce it came with packs a wallop.
The char siew on the other hand is quite good. It’s not the kind where the crust is super charred and crispy, but the kind where the sides are moderately crisp and the meat is tender with slightly more meat to fat ratio. The marinade for this char siew is different from what you’d get elsewhere; the marinade is lighter in terms of caramelisation, but it has a strong rice wine flavour and nam yue flavour.
Claypot kangkung was just alright for me. While the vegetables were nicely seasoned, it lacked char and aroma which one would normally expect when claypot cooking in involved. The braised house special tofu has simple flavours, accentuated by the chopped pork bits. Again, nothing out of the ordinary but it’s good with rice.
Our bill came up to about RM135 for all the above for 5 pax inclusive of 3 rice and 3 drinks. Fairly reasonable considering the items we ordered. The Home Cooking Dishes is also known for their braised pork trotter (almost every table ordered this) but I’m not a fan of this dish hence why I gave it a pass. If you’re dining in a larger group, they also serve steamed fish which is ideal for sharing.
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Ambiance: 5.5/10
Price: 6/10
Food: 6.5/10 (non-halal)
Verdict: Hearty, homestyle dishes done well. The steamed chicken and char siew are a must-try.
The Home Cooking Dishes
555, Jalan SS 9a/12, Ss 9a, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel: 016-677 3200
Business hours: 11.30am till 2.30pm (Mon, Wed & Friday), 11.30am till 2.30pm, 5.30pm till 8pm (Sat & Sun)
Closed Tuesday