Little Heritage House, Straits Chinese Kitchen @ Section 17, PJ

Located in a quiet neighbourhood in Petaling Jaya, Little Heritage House in Section 17/56 is more than just a restaurant serving authentic Nyonya cuisines, but also a place rich with Nyonya heritage as its name implies, almost like museum. Stepping into the restaurant, we are immediately transported to the bygone era of Baba & Nyonya, thanks to the countless piece of antiques and Straits Chinese design that are illustrated at almost every corner of the restaurant.

The restaurant welcomes us with a verandahed walkway arranged with coloured ceramic tiles, and a front facade designed in symmetrical organisation with ornately carved main doorway, accompanied by black framed windows on both sides and lanterns hanged from the ceiling. Wooden signboard, trishaw, greco roman columns, bamboo plants too, embellish the entrance.

The interior dining area features terracotta tile floor, Victorian chandeliers, adorned with carved furnitures made of hardwood, highlighting the delicate handwork of Chinese. The cabinets are filled with tiffin carriers, porcelain figurines, Nyonya cockery and ceramic wares.

Pushing the swing doors towards the second floor, we are astonished with the sophisticated design which double the surprises comparing to downstairs. The whole area is huge, spacious, complemented with intricately design furnitures and more priceless antiques. Traditional Baba & Nyonya costumes are exhibits on walls, together with old style clocks and ancient paintings.

Jiew Hu Char RM35/small, RM55/large
Can’t stop admiring the grandeur environment, but is time to take a sit and enjoy their delicious perakan food. Start with Jiuew Hu Char, the famous Nyonya delights that has sengkuang, mushroom and cuttlefish stir fried together to deliver a rich flavour, having juiciness from sengkuang, fragrance from cuttledish.

Chicken Meat Roll RM20
The Pork free version of lok bak. While many other lok bak is loosely wrapped and softer, Little Heritage’s version of lok bak is brimming with big chunks of meat, firmer and gives more bites.

Kiam Chye Arc RM68.00/ RM15 per duck
Kiam Chye Arc, or Itek Tim is a classic Nyonya favourite that is slow boiled with salted vegetables, ginger, duck and tomatoes for hours. So a nourishing, flavour intense soup that gathers the essence of all ingredients is expected.

Acar Rampai RM18.00(small)
“Acar” means pickle in Malay while “Rampai” means julienne. So acar rampai is basically pickled vegetables cut into julienne, tossed with crushed peanuts. Crunchy and appetizing with a balance of sweet and sourish concoction.

Assam Tamarind Prawns RM48(small), RM88(large)
The priced of RM48 per small portion of Assam Tamarind Prawns may hold you back from ordering. But it is worth a try, as the portion is quite sizeable with 8 huge prawns served. Dark coloured tamarind sauce thickly coating the prawns’ shell, bold in flavour, accentuating the sweetness of prawns.

Nyonya Chicken Rendang RM35(small), RM55(large)
A dish that is easily loved by many, young and old. Slow cooked with coconut milk and spices, the rendang is rich, creamy with a flavourful blends of herbs. We rate the chicken rendang at a mild level of spiciness, suitable even for kids.

Steamed Otak-Otak RM35
Otak-otak lovers will be overjoyed with the huge portion of otak-otak served here. Steamed to just nice with squishy and mousse-like texture, envelops with chunks of fish within.

Perut Ikan RM38.00
Perut Ikan, an offerings that sounds unappetizing but tastes so appetizing. The fish stomach is free from unpleasant fishy smell, bathed in gravy that blends in sweet, sour, savoury and spicy goodness with myriad of vegetables. We can have two bowls of rice just for this.

Assam Tumis Stringray RM60
Another delicacy that opens up the appetite. Stingray is accompanied with assam laksa like sauce, hot and spicy with zesty touch. Thumbs up for the balance in flavours and texture.

Nasi Ulam RM28.00/small, RM45/large
The experienced chef in Little Heritage holds in the persistence to hand cut, minced, slice and chopped raw ingredients without using the help of modern technology. The nasi ulam clearly portrays the impeccable knife work of chef, where herbs are thinly shredded to almost hair-thin.

Sotong Sambal Petai (RM48)
Squid and stink beans cooked in sambal, an either like it or hate it dish, for not everyone loves the unique aroma induced by stink beans.

Pulut Hitam with Mata Kucing RM10
Little Heritage’s Pulut Hitam soup is by far the best we have tried. It comes in extra thick and smooth consistency, with a swirl of coconut milk for extra fragrance. No sugar in added into the soup, which makes this a favourite dessert for diabetes patients who visit the restaurant. All sweetness are drawn from the Mata Kuching, or dried longan. So the best way to eat it is to scoop on dried longan that is generously loaded in the soup into every spoonful of your Pulut Hitam.

Ais Kacang-ABC (RM12.00)
Again, artificial sugar syrup is a no no in Little Heritage, so you will not see colourful syrup drizzled over. Their ice kacang is presented with a myriad of healthy ingredients including corns, red bean, jelly, grass jelly, longan are laced around the finely shaved ice, garnished with shredded nutmeg and crushed peanuts.

Cendol with Red Bean (RM9.00)
When comes to cendol, many goes more particular with the green colour, jelly-like cendol, but to us, what’s matter is the shaved ice. Some ice kacang are tower tall, looks colourful and great, but the ice is so coarse that makes our teeth feels hard. Like eating ice cube. In Little Heritage, what makes their cendol deserves a thumb up real is the shaved ice. It is so finely shaved, instantly dissolved in the palate to leave a chilling, refreshing sensation. Delicate, goes well with the cendol and coconut milk.

Sago Gula Melaka(RM9.00)
Aside from the Pulut Hitam with Mata Kucing, Sago Gula Melaka will be our second love. We were told that the kitchen takes effort to slow cook the sago, making sure that each of them is nicely separated, beautifully immersed in the coconut milk and that added with a fragrance touch of gula melaka syrup. so GOOD!

To sum up our meal here, everything here is carefully prepared and churned out. Effort of the kitchen team shall not be shadowed, seeing that Nyonya food is complicated in terms of ingredients and cooking steps. But if we came back, the Pulut Hitam with Mata Kucing will be our must order.

Photographer: Summer
Write Up: YLing

Address:
Little Heritage House
No. 23, Ground & First Floor,
Jalan 17/56,
46400 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor.
Business Hours: (Daily) 12:00pm – 3:00pm/ 6:00pm – 10:00pm
Contact Number: 03 – 79321810