C Jade Express in Mid Valley

By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy

I don't like Mid Valley.

There. I said it.

Don't get me wrong. I do visit the place periodically. It houses many of the shops that I would patronise. And when I need something like tonight I find it's not a bad place to go to to get what I need.

But I don't like it.

It's a waste of time.

It's large. So you can't just 'pop in' to pick up some groceries. You have to allocate a good hour and a half if you were to drive in, get a parking space, shop, find your car again, pay your ticket, and drive out.

So there I was tonight, looking for a small, portable stereo CD player which had a line in jack so I could play my Ipod. I didn't want a cassette tape player. But guess what, I visited 7 shops from HSL, to Machines and didn't find anything that fitted that description. That's not counting the 2 shops I visited earlier in the day in town.

When I came to Mid Valley I knew what I was in for and frankly, I was not looking forward to it.

You find endless miles of corridors and walkways to traverse before you get to your destination. AND THEN, if you can't find what you need, more corridors and escalators before you get to the next shop.

At 9pm I knew I needed to get something to eat and had been craving "Char Siew" for sometime. So like char kway teow for Malaysians or sex for anyone else, even mediocre char siew is better than nothing, I headed for C Jade Express to get my fix.

Established in Singapore in 1991, Crystal Jade Culinary Concepts encompasses everything from smart casual fine dining la mien (pulled noodles) to Hong Kong Cantonese style fast food, embodied in C Jade Express.

You're seated at a table, and you're given a menu and a pencil to tick off your choices. Minutes later it arrives. I had Char Siew and Soy Sauce Chicken rice and a Green Tea.

The ambience is clean, contemporary, and cheerful. The staff work with a quiet efficiency. And their systems work. It's well thought out, from the welcome, to the ordering systems, right to the end where you can choose to pay before you receive your food or when you leave. Much like some mamaks.

The food is warm, the char siew was decent, not the best I've had (but that honour remains my Mum's) and the portions adequate. For RM9.80 I got about 130g of Char Siew and the same amount of Soy Chicken with 3 stems of mustard greens and lashings of char siew sauce which made the rice rather irresistable.

With 2 types of condiments (one chilli oil and one spring onions, garlic and ginger minced) I was done in about 15 minutes from the moment I sat down to the moment I picked up to leave.

On the way to the car, I come to an ice cream place I'd wanted to try for some time. Gelatissimo. When I read the label that said it was 90 to 100% fat free I admit to some scepticism. C'mon, what item do you know that has such low fat that is actually yummy?

It was misplaced. It was smooth, just sweet enough, and absolutely a great way to round off a meal.

I had Honey Toffee Malt. It was either that or Green Tea. And I love anything that is remotely like Butterscotch.

All in all a good dinner. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend C Jade Express if you're in Mid Valley. And Gelatissimo is a must try no matter where you're coming from. ;-)

Get the diff? ;-)

C Jade Express
Unit LG-048 LG Floor
Mid Valley Megamall
03-22848113

Gelatissimo
Lower Ground in Gardens by Magzing