Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Bandar Utama (BU), Petaling Jaya (PJ)

Address:
Lot 312A
1 Utama Shopping Center
No.1 Lebuh Bandar Utama,
Bandar Utama City Centre,
Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 10am-10pm

Time Visited:
6:30pm, Monday night

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Handmade Oyster Mee Sua and XXL Crispy Chicken

The story of Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks is partially written in it's name. Taiwan is known for it's street food where the hawkers ply their trade on night markets with their food trucks and their makeshift stalls. Taiwanese is known to flock and gather around where most are a buy and eat as you walk while some do have seatings for you to eat your food while some require you to just stand around since you won't be eating it long anyway as it is a snack. Hence the concept draws from there and thus came out with Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks. Shilin is a very popular place in Taipei due to the night market where street snacks such as these thrive.

I remember a long time ago, some years back, I was with a friend and we were gonna watch a movie. If I recall correctly, it's Ip Man and we somehow managed to get free tickets thanks to her. We were thinking of what to eat and at that time, I had no idea at all. She then suggested to me Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks. That time, it was below where TGV was before their renovation. During that period, I would always avoid eating at kiosk like locations such as Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks, Seaweed Club, Oyster King and the likes but since she suggested and she said it's actually quite nice, I gave it a try. So we both headed off and sat at one of those bar stools as their kiosk like shop merely consists of limited bar settings where you sit in a row with the cashier and server is in front of you. Kinda like Japanese ramen shop, only way smaller. I remember not knowing what to order and ask my friend for opinion and just go with her suggestions. LOL. Good times. Quite miss having such fun times with her.

And now at present times, Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks has relocated to the New Wing of 1 Utama and at the lower ground section. Upon traversing the aisles of 1 Utama unsure of what to eat, I passed by Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks and immediately the memories filled my mind. I was instantly drawn to make the decision to eat there.

This time around, the kiosk like settings has expanded. There's seatings behind the cashier counter where you order your food and also some tables and chairs set up opposite of the cashier next to the escalator. Also, they've do away with the bar like seatings. There's completely none anymore.

I ordered what I remembered eating the last time around a few years ago, the Mee Sua and the crispy chicken. I waited patiently for it as I took a seat at one of the vacant tables. They brought the mee sua to me once they've scooped it out of the big pot and placed the necessary ingredients on top of it. I can't remember how it used to look like but this sure looks delicious. You can clearly see the oysters, the shreds of chicken and some greens on it. Also a dollop of chili since I said I want spicy. Mixed it all up and ate it up. Can't remember how's the taste like a long time back but I remember agreeing with my friend that it is tasty. Now, trying it again with no recollection of how it actually taste like, I would say it is tasty.

Then came the crispy chicken. This too I remembered is tasty but vaguely remembered how it taste like. Now, again once more seeing it, it looks huge. No wonder it's called XXL. It tasted good but more floury with the batter outside than the chicken. But there still is a good portion of chicken meat and the level of spiciness in it is quite hot once you delve deeper into it. This is because of the pepper that's on the chicken. The chili powder that's sprinkled on the chicken is of bearable level but the pepper puts it over the top. In fact, it's like a surprise attack since you can't really see the pepper unless you really observe carefully. There's some bones in it which I don't recall the last time I ate it. Maybe because the last time I didn't eat the XXL chicken? I don't know. I don't remember.

Total Wallet Damage:
All in all RM15.50 only! It's cheap. RM7.50 for the Mee Sua and RM8 for the chicken. All inclusive of GST 6%.

Final Verdict:
7/10. But I must warn you, this place has very limited seatings and on weekends where the crowd of people throng to shopping malls, most eating outlets including this is sometimes seen full to the brim. This place brings back some great memories to me. However, as I got lost in those memories and accidentally stumbled on some old emails, more memories of more individuals started flooding. I feel so sad now with all those flashbacks and wish that I could relive it once again.