I-Tea House, Puchong - Thokohmakan

I-Tea House in Puchong

[Non-halal] I-Tea House in Puchong serves a delicious bowl of Sarawak Laksa and other delicacies.

For the uninitiated, I-Tea House (also known as Aunty Lan Sarawak Deli) used to operate at Pusat Dagangan NZX in Ara Damansara.

The restaurant moved to its new home in Bandar Puteri Puchong in April.

We think the new location is clean and spacious, and I-Tea House will become of the top spots for authentic Sarawakian fare in the area.

I-Tea House in Puchong

I-Tea House serves more than your usual Sarawakian fare.

While Sarawakian staples such as kolo mee and Sarawak Laksa can be found here, I-Tea House also offers a few dishes that are harder to come in back in Klang Valley.

These include Sarawak-style kuay chap, Tomato Kueh Teow, Kacangma, and Manichai Bihun.

Good Sarawak Laksa

The Sarawak Laksa (RM13.90) is served with three fresh prawns and the usual shredded eggs, chicken slices, and parsley.

We enjoyed the laksa as the soup is thick and robust, with a prominent rempah profile. It has a good balance of sweetness and savouriness – but not as spicy as the ones at Christina’s Laksa (see our post here). It also has less santan that the ones at Salted (see our post here).

Max thought the soup was tasty enough without needing to add the sambal or a squeeze of lime juice.

Manicai Bihun is delicious

However, the Manicai Bihun (RM12.90) was our favourite dish here.

The dish was really good. The noodles were cooked with enough wok hei, and seasoned with the right amount of salt and umami. But the best parts were the fragrant manicai (aka sayur manis) which gives a bit of sweetness.

The dish is completed with crispy dried shrimp and fried anchovies. Ming thinks this is a “breakfast dish” but Max would be happy to devour this at any time of the day.

However, we agree that an additional protein dish may be required for a fuller meal.

Tasty homemade lobak

And this is where the Lobak (RM10.90) comes in.

This five-spice meat roll certainly has a home-cooking quality to it. The meat is sweet and tender with no artificial taste – and has less five-spice powder taste vs. the Teochew version. In fact, this lobak reminded Max of the one cooked by his friend’s mom in Kuching years ago.

Summary

Puchong folks should rejoice as I-Tea offers up a great selection of authentic and delicious Sarawakian fare in their backyard.

While PJ-ians like us are spoilt by a great selection of Sarawak Laksa closer to home (see our list below), we would come back here just for the Manicai Bihun as it is a unique offering.

I-Tea House 爱-茶室
Address: 36, Jalan Puteri 1/4, Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong, Selangor
Hours: 8am-8pm Daily (Closed on Tuesdays)