Dim Sum Garden Restaurant (园林点心屋) @ Melaka [Malaysia]

[Permanently Closed]

It's no secret I have a lot of backlogs for this blog and it doesn't help that I am also on full time employment, and hence, prefer to watch video clips whenever I am off work. However, it still caught me by surprise that an eatery I patronized in early October decided to close shop within one month of my visit! 

Okay, I am actually not that surprised and you would have to read further to understand why. In a nutshell, our visit was a matter of wrong identity as my brother in law had keyed in the wrong dim sum restaurant in his GPS and we were too hungry by the time we reached Dim Sum Garden Restaurant.

Even though it was a Friday, I was still taken aback by how empty the restaurant was at about 10.00 am. Back then, I was self reasoning that travelers to Melaka would only come in maybe after 6pm on Fridays; hence, the lack of customers. 

While there was the option of ordering from the menu, another way was for the service staff to bring along a large basket of steamed dim sum for you to pick! In such times, I always lament that humans should have four stomachs, like a cow! 

Like sushi plates, each dim sum had an assigned price category ranging from RM 3.00 to RM 6.50. Meaning the most expensive item cost just S$2.00, whereas in Singapore, each basket was minimally S$3.00! 

Fried Carrot Cake - disappointing; served not even lukewarm, the texture of the carrot cake was hard and the flavor was primarily just spicy. This was a disgrace to carrot cake! 

Hakka Yong Tau Foo - this cost RM 9.00 but it's a mixture of quite a few things; do no complaint here. I only managed to secure one piece as we were too hungry! This was okay but would have commanded a higher review if they were fresh out from the boiling oil.

Glutinous Rice with Chicken - pretty good with substantial amount of meat. I did feel that the rice was a bit mushy although taste wise was above average.

Siew Mai - for something that's so common in dim sum, it frustrated me when an eatery can doom it. The filling didn't scream of juiciness and what got to my taste buds was just the taste of unappetizing meat. 

Har Gow - another dish synonymous with dim sum, this was better tasting than the siew mai but instead of prawns, it was more the flavor of pork. This should have been named siew mai instead of har gow.

Chee Cheong Fun - decided to order both the prawns and pork version since one portion would only be sufficient for Alex. Turned out the sauce had a strange sweet flavor that didn't quite gel and the char siew had that distasteful porkiness.

Century Egg Mai - as a century egg fan, I needed to give this a try. Again, the meat didn't impress even though I still enjoyed the unique century egg pungency. 

Big Pau - to be frank, I wasn't too hopeful with the big meat bun as what we had so far didn't capture our hearts. Turned out the meat was juicy and deliciously savory and it helped that the skin wasn't overly thick! Pity we were a bit full by then! 

Banana and Red Bean Roll - I was wondering why these were in the form of nuggets! Don't be deceived by their looks as they were bursting with the sinfully nice filling! The outer texture was also crispy and the only one issue was that the banana was literally overwhelmed by the red bean. 

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Before and after. Nothing much for me to add as the eatery is no longer in operation. I did feel that the prices were economically although I wouldn't mind paying slightly more for a high quality. 

Address

3-1 & 5-1, Jalan Tamby Abdullah, 

Banda Hilir, 75000 Melaka, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Business Hours

-Ignore-

-Closed Permanently- 

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Fried Carrot Cake - RM 6.50 

Hakka Yong Tau Foo - RM 9.00

Glutinous Rice with Chicken - RM 4.50

Siew Mai - RM 4.00

Har Gow - RM 4.50

Chee Cheong Fun - RM 6.00

Century Egg Mai - RM 4.00

Big Pau - RM 5.00

Banana and Red Bean Roll - RM 6.00

ibis Melaka (Standard Room) near Jonker Street in Malaysia

I made a trip to Melaka in early October with my mom, elder sister, brother in law, Jovyn and Alex and this time round, I literally took a backseat in planning since my elder sister and brother in law visit the UNESCO city much more often than I do! 

For our accommodation, my sister opted for ibis Melaka since it's within walking distance from the ever so crowded Jonker street. Built in 2016, it has 249 rooms across six floors; I didn't feel that there were so many rooms though! 

Stepping into the hotel lobby and looking up to a cloudy sky patterned ceiling with a heart-shaped skylight. The skylight could have been expanded to allow more natural lighting and complement the artificial sky.

Always happy to see infused water! I would make it a point to drink one glass when I left the hotel and had another one when I am back, which could be a few times a day given how much I love to explore.

Keycards for our standard room - Room 424. Most importantly, the Wi-Fi username and password which have been extremely important for any overseas travel! I pay quite a bit for data roaming and having free Wi-Fi can cut down my expenses quite a bit.

Why was there a baby cot right at the lift lobby on level four?! Imagine hearing a baby crying at night... p.s. nothing happened throughout our two-night stay.

Corridor wasn't very dim but as our allocated accommodation was the first room on the right from the lift lobby; I couldn't really feel how dim it really was. Personally, I dislike having my room far from the lift lobby as the mind will start to wander. 

Room 424; our standard room with twin beds! Compact at just 22 square meters, it was a comfortable size for me. C'mon, if I can survive a 13-14 square-meter room at Sapporo (Hokkaido); this would be okay.

The first thing I loved about ibis Melaka was the provision of bolsters! This bedroom necessity for Singapore homes is so rare in hotels, and frankly; giving me another pillow just doesn't cut it! 

View outside the window that faced the huge open-air carpark. You can't see from the above photograph but the greenery at the background should be the location of Bukit China, a Chinese cemetery said to be the biggest outside of China. 

I have no idea the purpose for this. It would be more helpful to have it nearer the entrance, where we can sit down to wear our shoes. What could I do with this beside the bed? Sit here to watch television!? I might as well use the bed. 

Mini fridge with the complementary mineral water, electric kettle, and the sachets of tea and coffee. Since I am in Malaysia, where Nanyang coffee can be found easily, I didn't have to satisfy my caffeine fix in the room. 

Safe was in the the drawer! This should be made available in all hotels as it was much easier for us to put in our valuables. In ibis Melaka, I also noticed a prayer mat in the safe. Shouldn't this be placed outside? Maybe it's a magical carpet.

Now the washroom; equipped with rainfall shower, hair dryer and basic toiletries like sanitary pad, cotton buds and refillable shower gel / shampoo. If you need toothbrushes or bedroom slippers, you can request separately. Not an issue for me as I am all for sustainability. 

Loving the built-in mirror lights! 

Another thing I love about ibis Melaka; the flooring for the shower area which would be very suitable for the older generation as it was absolutely slip proof! I am impatient and can be clumsy; hence, such flooring is most appropriate for me too. 

Gymnasium - this was located on the ground floor of ibis Melaka, at the back. Opened from 7.00 am till 11.00 pm and access would be via your tap card.

Basic enough for us so long we have weights, and treadmills; latter of which I used on the first day whereas I decided to jog along the river on the mornings of day two and three. Nothing beats the great outdoors despite the risk of stepping onto dog shit! 

Gym rules for your reference.

Water dispenser with towels and sign in / sign out form. I am not sure about you but I don't have the habit of signing in and signing out. Back at Hotel Royal Bangkok, I noticed the last entry was a year ago! 

Swimming Pool - 1.2 meter deep adult pool and a 0.6 meter deep kid pool that came with a small water playground popular with families. No time for me to swim as I needed to cramp quite a bit since I was only there for two nights! 

House rules for the pool for your reference.

Miscellaneous - an outdoor playground in front of the swimming pool. Well, hardly exciting since such old school design can be found in my estates. 

Smoking corner right outside the gym. With logs made into the shape of reindeer, I wouldn't be surprised to find a Christmas tree right in the middle, now that we are going to Christmas season.

Seating area for guests at the lobby, plus desktop computer with internet. In time to come, such internet stations in hotels would be obsolete since a lot of things can now be performed over the phone, which has become an indispensable part of our life.

Cafe corner with options for nonya kueh, pastries and beverages. My reasoning is that you can get cheaper options outside, especially given the hotel's proximity to Jonker Street! 

Lastly, the restaurant serving buffet breakfast every morning! We opted for non-breakfast since it's cheaper and we figured we could easily find local breakfast around the hotel. p.s. you can consider the nearby Siang Chiang (香江茶室).

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Address

249, Jalan Bendahara, 

Kampung Bukit China, 

75100 Melaka, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Website

https://all.accor.com/hotel/9101/index.en.shtml

Pricing

Standard Room - S$81.11

Purchased via Agoda.com.