Update dated 11 August 2017: According to Says.com.my, Ming Tien food court would be closing down in October 2017 to make place for new development project 🙁
Below is a recent photo taken of the construction site in March 2018 where both Taman Megah Ming Tien food court and the futsal place have been demolished and now there is construction going on:
What memories….
Older article written in 2010:
Ming Tien food court is one of my favourite places to eat in Petaling Jaya- aside from the SS2 Food Court. Usually, if I have visitors coming from outstation or overseas, I would usually bring them to this food court.
The food court is quite huge and consists of quite a lot of stores. At the picture on the top, you see a lot of empty tables and chairs because the area is not occupied during day time as the weather is quite hot. But once the sun sets, you will find the entire area fully occupied especially during Friday and weekends.
At night, the ambience is welcoming- with the lights- it’s quite nice to eat here. Dozens of stalls are opened- so when you are there- you must first find a table- and memorise the table number because you will need to quote the table number when ordering food so that the stall worker knows where to bring your food- else the place’s too huge to find you.
And if you come on Sunday night, there is a night market just next to this food court. You can buy some tidbits from the night market and go to Ming Tien to order drinks. When you sit too long, no one will chase you away- the place’s opened for 23 hours each day- even though I am not sure which hour it is closed.
During day time, people will eat at the sheltered area- there are fans emitting cool breeze here- so you need not worry about the hot afternoon. The food is not spectacular or special but because there are a lot of varieties, visitors are able to sample all types of food- mainly Chinese but there are Japanese, Korean and finger foods. During day time, less stalls are opened but it’s still enough to give a good variety and it’s cooling.
Now, most typical Chinese restaurants recognizes that they need to employ a person who is skilled in making drinks like tea and coffee. You will be surprised that they are willing to pay – even Ming Tien. When you are eating there, check if it is the thin uncle (who is balding) on duty. Usually if I go there on Saturday for lunch, he is there. I love his drinks especially hot milk tea (I would like the iced version better but they’re more fattening).
I used to buy from him when he was working at another restaurant. That restaurant closed down later due to bad locality and high rental. It is not the food that makes me come here but the drink- as I place more importance on the caffeine than on the food. If you go to Kopitiam, mamak stalls or any franchised restaurants, it’s hard to get a delicious cup of hot milk tea.
The hot tea (with condensed milk) costs RM1.70. I tend to order this size because it is not often I come. A drink like this no doubt pack a lot of calories in sugar but if you only take once a while, it should be okay.
For many years since Ming Tien was opened, I almost always order the same food- the Millelium Crispy Chicken Rice. I don’t know why- but love the cripsy fried chicken with the sambal. That’s just me, once I like a dish, I tend to eat the same dish all the time. Initially, the stall was operated by what I believe the owners. Few years later, they started employing Burmese workers if I am not mistaken to run the stall. The opening hours are long- from morning to midnite- so the owners would probably move on to other things. Usually the fried egg is not completely cooked- but I don’t like uncooked egg yolk so I always request them to cook it properly and add more sambal.
