Shangrila Inn, Brentford Square

 Brentford Square felt like a dero centre that day. We had just returned the hire car and wanted some lunch so dropped by Shangrila Inn. It was a new restaurant to us and we had some moderate to high expectations since there were some good reviews from a Facebook group. 

The restaurant is an older style suburban Chinese restaurant. The type that is a gem to those who live nearby but not one you would drive especially to. A bad service from either the wait person, cashier of the owner was a given sort of place. In many instances they would be the same person, hence the dour service. It is so easy to be overworked and burnt out in the restaurant business.

We ordered the sar hor fun and the weekend special, which was pork knuckle dry noodle.

The food arrived speedily, the waitperson was professional and congenial. None of the typical Asian hospitality here! He even offered us extra chillies. 

The portions looked small, but that's because the plates were small. The food literally were falling off the dishes. 

The sar hor fun was average, not much wok hei. There were fish fillet, chicken, squid and lots of veges which I liked. It's a dish that tries to fulfil the recommended food pyramid. I'm happy to report that there doesn't seem to be msg in the dishes, because it was quite bland, which is OK for me and I did not have to drink copious amount of water afterwards.

The weekend special of pork knuckle on noodles turned out of be a good decision on our part. There were lots of meat on the knuckle, not like some of the 'all bones no meat' places that valued presentation over food. 

Again, I like how much vegetables there are on the dish. At last, a restaurant that do not stinge on vegetables! Taste wise, it is the usual dry noodles sauce with soy sauce and is a familiar taste to me. 

While we were there, we had a chuckle over a lengthy phone order that was going on in the background with the owner of the restaurant. Some snippets to share, just like good food must be shared, 'you want then I cook for you, if you don't want then I don't cook loh.. you already ate salted fish yesterday, you want it again today?' I think it must have been a regular customer or perhaps a family member to deserve that level of familiarity.

While we were eating, we observed a person going around out the shop asking for money. While it was a weekend, most of the shops were closed and some were for lease. Hence why I thought it was a rough place around the area. Perhaps it is busier during the week days.