I decided to try out the herbal jelly or gwei ling go at Koong Woh Tong one day in Mid Valley Megamall after reading eatinout's blog entry about it. My first time trying this place which has been in Malaysia for almost 20 years. The herbal tea shop originated from China and has branches in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Nowadays they are located at most major shopping malls and their flagship outlet is at Petaling Street.
Each outlet has the same design, where two big "gold" containers are placed in front with the two types of herbal tea. You can pour out a fresh bowl from the container and quickly drink it just like this guy. Alternatively you can take away the herbal tea in the pre-packed plastic cups. There are two kinds of herbal tea served: a sweet and really bitter one. Don't ask me the chinese names as I am clueless about all this. I had one bowl (RM1.30) which I asked the lady to recommend due to my flu, she gave me the bitter one which took me a while to finish. The herbal tea is cooked offside and they deliver the tea in large metal containers which the ladies manning the stall will distribute to these containers to keep warm.
Each outlet has the same design, where two big "gold" containers are placed in front with the two types of herbal tea. You can pour out a fresh bowl from the container and quickly drink it just like this guy. Alternatively you can take away the herbal tea in the pre-packed plastic cups. There are two kinds of herbal tea served: a sweet and really bitter one. Don't ask me the chinese names as I am clueless about all this. I had one bowl (RM1.30) which I asked the lady to recommend due to my flu, she gave me the bitter one which took me a while to finish. The herbal tea is cooked offside and they deliver the tea in large metal containers which the ladies manning the stall will distribute to these containers to keep warm.
Besides herbal tea, they also serve herbal jelly known as gwei ling go in ceramic pots (RM6 for a small one). When you order the jelly, they will serve it with a teapot filled with a diluted honey syrup. It needs to be diluted for you to mix it with the bitter jelly. This version is not too bitter and nice as it is chilled. You can also opt to have it warm. Gwei ling go is said to be made from turtle shell which is grinded to a powder hence the name gwei which is cantonese for tortoise. The jelly also has numerous herbs and is said to help prevent sickness and relieve body heat. Cha Xiu Bao has an excellent write up of the jelly especially the different ingredients that it is made from.
At the side of the main entrance, there is this huge pot which has tortoise figurines on top of it. The pot helps to keep warm the gwei ling go for those who prefer taking it warm rather than cold from the fridge.
Koong Woh Tong
LG069, Lower Ground
Mid Valley Megamall
Tel No: 03 - 2284 7753
*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.
Other write ups on this place:
- Eatinout - 20 March, 2006
- The Real Azuki - 14 January, 2006
Tagged with: Herbal Tea + Herbal Jelly
12 comments:
I quite like it probably becoz it was cold. It wasn't too bitter and luckily the syrup is watery. What I found very bitter was the herbal tea.
Yeah, I read it's good for acne and those heaty ailments hence it was a much better choice to try as a snack vs unhealthy food. Will definitely try it again.
I think the bitter one is called 'wong loh kat'. Typically like Chinese medicine that is good for the body but bitter to the taste. As for the sweet one, I believe it is boiled sugar cane drink.
Thanks so much for the tips book worm.
Yeap... it's good for skin, always see people drop by, order, eat and run (in just few minutes), well... if few minutes can make you prettier, why not, rite? (btw, so detail your blog about the shop, great job)
i love the bitterness of the gwei ling go, am i weird? but i find it a bit expensive, oh and the herbal is indeed bitter and "tough", so did not like it that much, but still drink it for health.
tulan - yeah, the guy in the first pix just did that, drink and run off. Amazing he can drink that bitter tea so fast.
rokh - different tastebuds hence you like it bitter. I'm quite a scaredey cat towards bitter tastes. Yes, it is a bit pricey. Now I am thinking if there is any other places that serve it cheaper.
wong loh kat is good when you're sick like when you have a flu... in some places you can add some bitter powder in it to add its effectiveness... really bitter stuff :P
i believe the sweet drink is 'ng fah cha'... or 5 flower tea.
Your pics reminded me so much of the gwei ling gao shops in Hong Kong with their huge urns and loads of turtle shells on the walls. Not exactly my favourite Chinese dessert as I'm not into bitter - the last time, I had the real thing, I poured like half a cup of honey into the darned bowl that hubby and waitress stared at me in total disbelief!
wyejon - You are right abt it being bitter. Not sure if it helped my flu but it's thankfully over.
cath - I'm not a fan of bitter either so I did pour quite a bit of syrup in my jelly too but definitely not half!
i was here, i was looking for other branch of Koong Woh Tong in Malaysia, so that i needless everytime i've to take a huge distance to go to certaint places that i only knew to get a take away or enjoy over there...
keep looking, and will update soon (hopefully).
There is new outlet at The Summit USJ, Subang Jaya.
I love herbal stuff!
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