Restoran 126 - Bukit Tinggi, Pahang

Bukit Tinggi was on our radar for a few weeks. There was this "Ah Poh" that I wanted to meet. His name was mentioned with great reverence by my friends. From Batu Cves it is just 20 minutes away. Nice ride through some stunning scenery and mountains which only serves to whet the appetite. We got there all right for lunch. Yes there was this Ah Poh that watch over his turf (which was landscape somewhat) and customers with an eagle eye. His PR is good and he took our orders. He recommended tienchi leaves (in Cantonese its Tin Chat). More of that at the end of this post.

We tried to keep our orders manageable price-wise so that we can release some budget into the vegetables and food buying frenzy from stall nearby! So tilapia was ordered as the main course!
The tilapia was so big that we had it done 2 ways. On one side was pan-fried till crisp. The other was steamed with sour and spicy assam sauces. Fresh and appetising.

The Hakka Tau Pok was average as I found the meat somewhat dry. But still a good eat served with some refreshing soup.Somehow we had to order an unhealthy dish. "Heong Hau Far Lam" - Deep Fried Sliced Belly Pork. The thin morsel gave in with a crunch and with plenty of thick, caramelised gravy it was thumbs up!

Tin Chat (Tienchi - use this word if you want to google!) leaves are valued for its pharmaceutical qualities. It has been used from time immemorial in China. Yunnan has tons of these and it can be bought in dry powder, capsule, steamed etc from the medical halls. Its efficacy is mostly in treating internal injury, blot clot, hemorrhages, bruises and sprains.

The leaves are really green in look. It tasted medicinal. Making it less palatable, it is slimy and I thought the penchant for it stir-fried style must be an acquired taste. I like the crunch that come from the thick leaves but put off by its sliminess. Its slipperiness is similar to the our local red spinach.

Total Price for 6: RM62 nett!