Restaurant: Xuan Xin - Gurney Plaza, Gurney Drive

This restaurant is on the 3rd Floor at Gurney Plaza and I called there after an extensive shopping trip that had left me just too whacked to bother driving to Tg Bungah which was the original plan. It was one of those impromptu meals that turned out to be lucky call.

The restaurant is quite large and has ample seating inside and also outside on the main floor of the plaza but this is area of course barriered off from the general walkway. It is tastefully decorated and has comfortable seating. I had gone to Gurney with a good friend of mine and we were quite hungry. The menu is very extensive and well presented and we ordered a hot and sour soup and a black chicken soup along with deep fried fish fillet in hot bean sauce, stewed chicken with salt fish and bean curd in claypot and string beans with shrimp paste. We also ordered steamed rice and two drinks, iced tea and an iced chocolate (milo).

After not too long a wait the meal started to arrive with the soup served at the same time as the main meal as is common. Well, in fact, one of the soups was served with the main meal, the black chicken was somewhat delayed, but more of that later. The hot and sour soup was thick and tasty without being too spicy and contained a nice variety of vegetables and sea food. The fish fillet with hot bean sauce was superb, the fish moist and fried in a very thin and crispy batter and served with just the right amount of a chilli based coating sauce which was also slightly sweet. The string beans with shrimp was exceptional and the sauce with them delicious to add to the rice. The claypot chicken, tofu and salt fish was also very palatable if somewhat salty. All in all, an excellent meal at the end of which we were quite stuffed and only JUST managed to finish everything.

Special mention also has to be made of the chocolate drink. This was superb and one of the best I've ever had, and at just RM 6 was less than half the price of some other well known establishments!! The only flaw with the meal was the black chicken soup which despite asking for when the meal arrived took an age to come and when it did it was cold. Sending back to be heated was a necessary mistake as it never returned . Having finished the meal we decided to cancel it from the order. I would not let that put me off returning though and have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the meal as did my companion. A nice touch is the 'service' devices on all of the outside tables which let you call for 'water', 'bill' or 'service' at the push of a button with a swift response from the friendly and helpful staff. The whole bill came to just RM 68.

The Xuan Xin also does a range of set meals for between 2 and 10 people and, as an example, the 2 person set meal consists of soup of the day, your choice of two main courses (from the wide selection accompanying these menus), a dish of seasonal vegetables, your choice of rice or congee and drinks for about RM 38. In fact the only reason we did not choose this option is that we wanted to select our own vegetable dish. I can thoroughly recommend this restaurant, especially if you happen to be in or around Gurney.