Tian Shan Restaurant @ Berjaya Times Square

Recently we ended up at Berjaya Times Square during the long holidays as I needed to spend my cash vouchers at Borders. Wandering around, we stumbled on this restaurant that serves Xinjiang cuisine from China that is on the same level of the cinema.

Based on a map they have at the restaurant, Xinjiang is on the Northwestern side of China and on the Silk Road trail. This place serves Chinese Muslim food and is halal but surprisingly, you only see Chinese patrons here. We did two trips to try out their food which reminds me of the same items that are served at Esquire Kitchen.

This place serves dumplings which we were eager to try out. Their xiao long baos are made from either chicken or beef meat. We liked their chicken xiao long baos which were nice and tender. They're tinier portions versus the ones they serve at Dragon-i and Crystal Jade and come in a single portion of ten pieces for RM1 each. Although they don't contain much soup in them, they were yummy and the dumpling skin was tender.

Tian Shun also serves dumplings: fried and boiled versions. The fried ones are known as potstickers or wor tie in Chinese. Similar to gyoza, these are fried in a pan until one side becomes brown and crisp. I liked these dumplings which were made from chicken meat and vegetables. Each portion comes with ten pieces for RM1 each and they are pretty big dumplings.

I was eager to try out their jiaozi, the boiled dumplings as they remind me of my relatives in Hong Kong. My uncle who migrated to China long ago married my auntie who was from Harbin in Northern China. She's an excellent jiaozi maker and whenever we visit them in Hong Kong which they stay now, she will make them specially for us. They're special treats which she only makes when special guests come or during Chinese New Year. Sadly the jiaozi in Tian Shan don't come close to her version probably because they're big and filled with too much chicken meat in them. I prefer the ones we had at Dong Bei instead. They're also RM10 for a plate of ten jiaozi.

We ordered noodles to accompany the dumplings, first we had the Zha Jiang Mian (RM9.90+)which is noodles topped with minced chicken, shredded cucumber and carrots that you toss together. Although it's a Northern China dish, most chinese restaurants serve this.

We also had the suey choy (a kind of preserved vegetable) and shredded chicken soup noodles (RM11.90+), another popular dish you can get at Chinese restaurants.



It is served with a fried chicken chop that was nice and crispy. The noodles seem to be extremely popular with the patrons of the restaurant as we saw a few tables having noodles during lunchtime.

In this region, lamb and beef dishes are extremely popular. We ordered their roast lamb chop which is a specialty of this restaurant (RM40+ - four pieces). Each one of us had a piece each and this was superb. The lamb meat was tender and crispy on the outside. Spices were sprinkled on top of it that looked like ground cumin, paprika and chilli powder. I read a review they had pasted on their restaurant that the lamb is steamed first to tenderise the meat and then fried to give it the crisp crunch.

We also had their Claypot Beef Flank (RM20+) which came bubbling hot. Excellent with rice, the beef flanks melt in your mouth.

Another dish that is extremely popular in Esquire Kitchen, the stir fried eggplant with chicken (RM15+). This was also very nicely fried as you don't taste the oil in the eggplant.



They also serve Xinjiang Rice(RM12+) which is a rice dish that has is cooked with either chicken or beef. It's topped with raisins and diced vegetables that remind me of the nasi briyani we get here. In Xinjiang, it is either known as pulao or polo rice that can be found at the roadside stalls and is eaten with your hands.

Do try this place the next time you shop or watch a movie at Berjaya Times Square as the food is pretty unusual. We plan to come back again to try out their other lamb dishes as we love their roasted lamb chops.

Tian Shan Restaurant
Lot 03-92, Third Floor
Berjaya Times Square
No.1, Jalan Imbi

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 - 2144 9829

(Same level as the Cinema, behind Nippon Tei Japanese restaurant. The restaurant is halal.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Xinjiang + Berjaya Times Square